Resurrecting For Movement Toward Closure: The Clone Wars Season Six Has A Few Moments, But Is Largely Unimpressive!

The Good: Generally good animation, Leads into the final Star Wars movie well.
The Bad: Some of the arcs are utter duds, Light on character development, Inconsistent vocals.
The Basics: The Clone Wars Season Six was a Netflix-continued season of television which filled in a few of the gaps between the animated series and final prequel film . . . with a few annoying divergences.


When the Cartoon Network cancelled The Clone Wars, the show was picked up by an unlikely source: Netflix. Netflix continued the series even after Cartoon Network released the five seasons it produced as a Complete Series set. Season Six of The Clone Wars was designed to fill in just a few more of the gaps between the prior five seasons and Revenge Of The Sith (reviewed here!). Given the climactic moment of season five of The Clone Wars (reviewed here!), it is virtually impossible to discuss the sixth season of The Clone Wars without revealing a few significant spoilers. The funny thing is The Clone Wars Season Six only really spoils events from earlier seasons of The Clone Wars, though it has a few pointless divergences that keep the show from making a focused lead-up to Revenge Of The Sith. Interestingly, Season Six also does not make it to the point where it would lead directly into Revenge Of The Sith the way the earlier Clone Wars season (reviewed here!) did. Instead, this creates more of the backstory that clears up inconsistencies between the prequel Trilogy and the original Star Wars films.

As fans of the Star Wars Saga figured from the very beginning of The Clone Wars, Ahsoka Tano had to disappear before Revenge Of The Sith and her write-off at the climax of Season Five causes her to be left out of Season Six. Season Six might not use Ahsoka, but the show continues her problematic presence in the Star Wars universe. What Netflix did right with the sixth season of The Clone Wars was simple: the show maintained the style of the prior seasons. The animation in Season Six is consistently good, even when the stories are unexceptional.

Anakin leads the defense of a planet under siege by Separatists with the help of clone troopers and twin Jedi, Tiplar and Tiplee. One of the Clone Troopers, Tup, suddenly turns on Tiplar during the battle and kills the Jedi. Investigating Tup puts Sidieous and Dooku on the defensive as the clone’s snap threatens their future plans. Admiral Trench launches a massive Separatist attack to recover Tup before the Republic can study what happened to him. Anakin and some clone troopers rescue Tup and Clone Trooper Fives returns to Kamino to find out what caused Tup to snap. Shaaki Ti tries to get a very deep brain scan, but the Kaminoans are working with Darth Tyrannus and they work to keep Fives and his droid companion from performing an atomic brain scan. After discovering a tumor in Tup, who dies shortly after its removal, Fives and Shaak Ti return to Coruscant to plead the case that the Clones have been engineered with a flaw. The Kaminoan scientist Namas Sul works to discredit Fives when Fives is brought before Palpatine with evidence of the inhibitor chips. After appearing to attempt to kill the Chancellor, Fives goes on the run. This arc clearly establishes the concept of Order 66.

Rush Clovis returns when the Banking Clan on Scipio has trouble maintaining business operations due to the war. Senator Amidala is attacked on the neutral world of Scipio while visiting the central vault. A bounty hunter tries to kill Clovis because he knows that the Banking Clan is on the verge of collapse. Amidala is granted unprecedented access to the vault, where she discovers that Clovis is right and that the Banking Clan is corrupt. Returning to Coruscant, Amidala works to expose the Banking Clan while the Sith reorganize to bring Clovis back to the Separatist fold. Clovis allows himself to be manipulated by Dooku to take control over the Banking Clan when he exposes the corruption in the Banking Clan. With a wedge driven between Anakin and Padme, Palpatine tasks Anakin with learning what Clovis is hiding and Anakin is forced to rescue Scipio from the Separatists.

Fives is put in virtually the same situation and arc as Ahsoka was at the climax of the prior season. Fives puts doubt in Anakin’s mind as to the Chancellor’s benevolence before he is killed and fans of The Clone Wars are likely to feel like they have seen the arc before. It also makes the viewer feel like the Jedi should have seen Palpatine’s influence about five years earlier than they did! Similarly, The Clone Wars Season Six spends a lot of time on Dooku’s extortion of Clovis. That extortion comes in the form of a particularly tedious exchange that involves raising interest rates on Republic loans. This calls to mind a joke from The Simpsons about Episode I wherein the political machinations of the Sith was reduced to boring parliamentary issues, which undermined the wow factor of the Star Wars franchise.

The penultimate arc has Jar Jar Binks going on a mission with Mace Windu and earning his respect. Jar Jar and Windu visit a planet where Binks is infatuated with the queen and when she is captured, it is Binks who arranges to rescue her. In the process, Mace Windu comes to respect Jar Jar for his skills.

The season climaxes with a mini-arc featuring Yoda. Yoda hears the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn and goes on a quest to find the source of midiclorians in the galaxy. This leads Yoda to understand most of the Sith conspiracy that plagued the Jedi

The sixth season of The Clone Wars might maintain the animation style of the prior seasons, but it does not keep the voices consistent. Sidious, for example, does not sound like he does in other seasons. The tone of the season – save the annoying Jar Jar Binks segment – is distinctly intended for adult or young adult audiences, as opposed to children. The result, though, is a thoroughly mediocre season of television that might be worth watching for free on Netflix, but is not likely to wow fans into shelling out money on DVD or Blu-Ray when it is released in that form.

For other Netflix exclusive seasons, please check out my reviews of:
Arrested Development - Season Four
House Of Cards - Season 1
House Of Cards - Season 2
Orange Is The New Black - Season 1

4.5/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Resurrecting Preposterous: The Clone Wars Season Five Takes A Long Time To Build To Watchable!

The Good: Generally good animation, Tone, Fills out the larger Star Wars universe well.
The Bad: Some of the arcs are utter duds, Light on character development until the end.
The Basics: The Clone Wars Season Five is a poor season of television until the last half of the season when it fleshes out the Star Wars universe in a (mostly) interesting way.


It might take a long time, but the Cartoon Network show The Clone Wars finally went somewhere. The show, which struggled for four seasons to find a tone and storytelling consistency was troubled by conceptual problems and stories that seemed to distract from the known inevitable – which was that the series had to lead into Revenge Of The Sith (reviewed here!). The concept of Anakin Skywalker, who was the subject of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, having a Padawan learner of his own was fundamentally a departure from the main story of the prequel trilogy. Conceptually, it served only to make Anakin Skywalker’s indignation in Revenge Of The Sith over not being made a full member of the Jedi Council more palpable and realistic, but it was otherwise a big departure from the known Star Wars mythos.

In a similar fashion, The Clone Wars - while utilizing creatures, droids, and ship designs common to the Star Wars film sextet – further diverged from the Star Wars universe by upsetting many of the basic tenants of the series. The animated television series was actually packed with Sith characters: by the fifth season of The Clone Wars there were six Sith or ex-Sith alive and kicking ass and using lightsabers fighting throughout the galaxy. The Clone Wars Season Five picks up the thread of Darth Maul’s resurrection that largely confounds the whole idea that the Sith apprentice was killed at the climax of The Phantom Menace (reviewed here!). Season Five of The Clone Wars ended up not being the conclusion to the series (there is a new sixth season on Netflix), though it closes on the closest note possible to the other inevitable imperative of the series: Ahsoka Tano parts ways with the Jedi. The risk of making The Clone Wars and introducing such an important character as Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan was that the character had to be gone (one way or another) before the end of the series; otherwise her absence in the final prequel film becomes a huge continuity problem (albeit a retcon issue) for the diehard fans.

The fifth season of The Clone Wars, unfortunately, fleshes out the larger Star Wars universe before it finally narrows to a point in the season’s final arc. Along the way, the journey goes from pointless (opening with a Darth Maul arc seems self-defeating as viewers have to know that he cannot survive the series!) to unpleasantly boring (there is a droid arc that seems especially juvenile) right before it climaxes well with a powerful arc that starts cutting away loose ends before refocusing on Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano.

With Darth Maul and Savage Opress cutting a swath of destruction across the outer rim, motivated by a desire to get revenge on Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Maul tries to draw out the Jedi. Maul, after asserting dominance over Opress, lures Obi-Wan to the Florin System, where there are pirates who pledge themselves to Maul and Opress. Obi-Wan receives a distress call from the bounty hunter, Hondo. Aiding Hondo gives Obi-Wan an out when his fellow Jedi master is killed and he is cornered by the two Sith.

The immediately dark arc is followed up by a four episode Onderon rebellion arc. Ahsoka is left on the planet Onderon after the planet’s inhabitants fall to the Separatists. Aiding the young rebels, Ahsoka helps a brother and sister rally the people of Onderon to resist Separatist rule and fight back against the droid army of the Separatists. Training the rebels, Ahsoka and the rebels fight to rescue the deposed King and retake the planet, which puts Ahsoka at odds against her emotions (as she develops an attachment for one of the rebels in a doomed romance).

Ahsoka then takes a group of Younglings to the planet where they must get the crystals to make their own lightsabers. After facing the trial that nets the kids their crystals, their ship is attacked by the pirate Hondo. Ahsoka is kidnapped and held hostage by Hondo. But Hondo’s attempt to get the Younglings’ lightsaber crystals is foiled by the Younglings and then an attack by General Grievous.

The next mission is taken on by Colonel Gascon, a small sluglike Republic leader, and a team of droids, including R2-D2. Their mission is to capture a Separatist encryption module, but in trying to complete their mission, they crash land on Abufar. After days in the desert, the small team meets up with a clone trooper who has lost his memory and in their escape, the team discovers a Separatist plot to bomb an important Jedi strategic conference.

The season finally gets good when Darth Maul and Savage Oppress are rescued by Deathwatch. Together they assemble their own crime syndicate and, visiting Nal Hutta, they are attacked by the bounty hunter holdouts loyal to the Hutts. Assembling an army, Maul and Oppress make their move, but Pre Viszla inevitably betrays the Sith on Mandalore. Usurping Duchess Satine, Pre Viszla takes leadership as Prime Minister and declares the Mandalorian systems independent of all foreign rule. When Maul kills Pre Viszla, he installs Almeck as the new Prime Minister of Mandalore. When the Jedi converge on Mandalore, Maul gets his chance for revenge. The dark episode sees the death of Satine and Savage Opress, which seem like they would have motivated later character arcs for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul (given Kenobi’s love for Satine and Maul’s allegiance to Savage). Sidieous and Maul confront and that, too, seems like it was going somewhere, though the failure of Sidieous to kill Maul seems to diminish his character and the concept of the Sith.

Cato Malodia is under siege when the Jedi Temple on Coruscant is bombed. Investigating puts Ahsoka in a crisis of faith as she cannot believe that a Jedi might have been involved in the bombing. The bombing is soon revealed to be the work of a terrorist (who was not a Jedi) using nanotechnology. But when Ahsoka interrogates her, the terrorist is killed and Ahsoka is framed. Despite Anakin believing in his Padawan, the Jedi Council releases Ahsoka from the Jedi order in order for the Republic military to put Ahsoka on trial. Ahsoka goes on the run while Anakin looks to find the guilty parties who framed her. Unfortunately, Asajj Ventress turns up and that complicates things for Ahsoka.

Unfortunately, the fifth season of The Clone Wars lacks emotional resonance. The Youngling and droid story arcs are especially juvenile and they make for an erratic season because they precede an arc that involves the most on-screen deaths of major recurring characters in the series. The stories oscillate between violent and adult and silly and troublingly young. The fifth season of The Clone Wars might finish strong, but it is a long way for viewers to go and the good portions of the season are entirely dependent upon seeing the prior seasons of the show.

The animation in the fifth season of The Clone Wars is good, but the technology has not improved in any recognizable way from the prior seasons. In the end, the season is a fair conclusion to the story of The Clone Wars, even if the fifth season is not the climax.

For other seasons of The Clone Wars, please check out my reviews of:
The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Volume 1
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Volume 2
The Clone Wars - Season 1
The Clone Wars - Season 2
The Clone Wars - Season 3
The Clone Wars - Season 4

5/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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So Much Foreshadowing! The Clone Wars Season 4 Goes Dark And Adult!

The Good: Generally good animation, Tone, Most of the stories
The Bad: Minutae, Some of the character designs
The Basics: In the fourth season of The Clone Wars, the show virtually abandons its childish tendencies to present a more consistently adult story that continues to lead to Revenge Of The Sith.


For the first few seasons of The Clone Wars (season 1 is reviewed here!), the show from the Cartoon Network did not seem to know what it wanted to be. The show started with ridiculously childish “morals” (themes) and mixed a bit of warlike violence with annoyingly childish quips between Anakin Skywalker and his padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano. Fortunately, with the fourth season of The Clone Wars, the series goes all in and commits to making an adult series. Fans of the Star Wars franchise are likely to enjoy The Clone Wars Season Four because it works steadily toward the darkness that awaits the characters in Revenge Of The Sith.

Not only focusing on Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka, The Clone Wars Season Four starts to illustrate just how bloody The Clone Wars were and how the galaxy of Star Wars became run-down enough to get to the point where Palpatine could reasonably take over. The civil war between the Republic and the Separatists is packed with political intrigue and machinations that are not at all appropriate for children. The on-screen carnage (people getting stabbed, shot, or blown up) is also pretty extensive compared to anything that belongs in a children’s show. Fortunately, that leads to real depth and foreshadows the turn of Anakin Skywalker well. It also begins to seriously imply the dark side of Ahsoka Tano.

Opening with a civil war on the water world of Mon Calamari between the Quarren and the Mon Cala, Padme and Anakin work to bring about a peaceful resolution. While the Quarren want to join the Separatists, Anakin and Padme try to keep the Mon Cala in the Republic and defend them as citizens with the help of Captain Ackbar. Joined by Kit Fisto, the Republic Forces put up a valiant defense against the new Separatist Weapons dropped into the oceans. With Dooku calling the shots on the conquered world, the Republic forces retreat to the underwater caves. Fighting to keep the rightful king of the Mon Cala alive while Dooku’s jellyfish weapons and slave camps lead the Quarren leader to rethink his deal with the Separatists leads the Republic forces to the edge of peril.

Following the incident at Mon Calamari, trouble hits home when there is a fracture at Naboo. With Gungan leaders being manipulated by Dooku and Grievous, Amidala is able to help Jar Jar Binks rally the Gungans against the Separatists. In the process, Grievous is captured and to protect him, Sideous has Dooku abduct Anakin to make a prisoner exchange. This is a very dark episode with a number of on-screen deaths. Despite being a very short arc, it continues the reversals that make it at all plausible that the Jedi could manage to not capture and convict the two leaders of the Separatists.

Elsewhere, the planet Aleen is suffering from earthquakes which are devastating the planet. R2-D2 and C-3PO meet with the aliens on that planet to discover the complex relationship between the race above and the race below. In the process, R2-D2 and C-3PO find a way to save Aleen. Unfortunately, while leaving Aleen, the Republic transport the droids are on is attacked and in fleeing, the two droids have a “Gulliver’s Travel”-style adventure to return home.

After a particularly bloody battle on Umbara, Anakin is relieved of duty and recalled to Coruscant. He is replaced by the overbearing and demanding Jedi General Krell, who has no real regard for the lives of the clones under his command. While some of the clones resist his commands, Krell is actually very effective at achieving his mission goals, even if clone casualties in his unit are higher. Despite some impressive victories, like capturing an Umbarian air base, Krell continues to push Captain Rex and his men into increasingly dangerous situations. When two battalions of clones are set against one another, Krell’s treachery is exposed and his true nature is revealed.

When the Separatists make inroads at the peaceful planet of Krios, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka are dispatched to investigate. Slavers have captured the entire population of Krios, which makes Ahsoka’s homecoming a pretty horrible one. When Obi-Wan Kenobi is captured by Count Dooku’s slavers and taken to Zygaria, Anakin becomes bound to the queen of the slavers to find where the Kriosans and other slaves have been taken. When Dooku inevitably cracks down on the Queen, she realizes she has been a pawn for the Sith and works to free herself and her people from the Sith. This is a smart arc that alludes to Anakin’s past and brings up new darkness in the character. Since Attack Of The Clones, Anakin has had a reasonable sore spot toward slavery in the galaxy and this puts him direct conflict with slavers and his guilt over his mother’s death. Anakin’s darkness is hinted at well when he goes more than a little angry and badass on the slave traders.

A peace conference between the Republic and Separatists breaks down when the son of a Separatist leader declares that his mother was killed by Dooku and that the Separatists are an illegitimate regime of murderers. When Lux turns on Ahsoka after she saves his life, they end up in the company of the Mandalorian Deathwatch. When R2-D2 is conscripted to repair the Deathwatch psychopath’s droids, he and Ahsoka lay the groundwork for escape.

Returning to Coruscant, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin, and Ahsoka track a bounty hunter who threatens Palpatine. In the pursuit, the bounty hunter kills Obi-Wan, which sets Anakin off. Kenobi, of course, is not dead: he is working with Mace Windu and Yoda to uncover a plot between the bounty hunters and the Separatists. Kenobi disguises himself as Hardin (the bounty hunter) and goes to prison. There, he is approached by Cad Bane who engineers an escape plot from the prison. Cad Bane, Hardin, and Moralo Eval crash and work to get armed and a new ship. Palpatine sets Anakin against the bounty hunters, even as Obi-Wan Kenobi works to procure a new ship and escape Nal Hutta. After an encounter between Anakin and Raako Hardin, Hardin is able to get inside Dooku’s bounty hunter stronghold on Sarenno. There, the bounty hunters that Dooku has assembled are set against each other in a lethal contest within a game cube. The survivors of the box are used by Dooku to hunt Palpatine at a festival on Naboo. With Ahsoka put in charge of protecting Amidala, Anakin takes point on Naboo in protecting the Chancellor while Obi-Wan as Hardin tries to undermine the bounty hunter’s plan. This arc hinges on Dooku not being able to sense Obi-Wan Kenobi, which makes unfortunately little sense.

Asajj Ventress resurfaces at the climax of the season with an arc that sets her against the Sith. Ventress renounces her Sith training and rejoins the Sisters Of Dathomir. Dooku sends Grievous to kill Ventress and his droid armada attacks Dathomir. With the battle going poorly, the Sisters resurrect their dead to create a zombie army to combat the droids! Ventress manages to survive the holocaust on her world and ends up in the company of bounty hunters. The season climaxes with the return of Savage Opress . . . and Darth Maul!

The final arc of the season hinges entirely on having seen the third season of The Clone Wars (reviewed here!). Ventress’s fall from grace and the return of Darth Maul are obliquely referenced in the fourth season episodes, but are not really appreciable by those who have not seen the prior season.

The animation in the fourth season of The Clone Wars is decidedly mixed. The space battles and settings are appropriately epic and most of the character designs are wonderful. Ahsoka is no longer a girl (her outfit is changed to one that uses a keyhole cut to accent her breasts, which would be disturbing if they kept playing her so young) and the rest of the characters generally look smoother and more realistic. The only real problem with the animation in the fourth season of The Clone Wars is that all of the bald characters look like clone troopers. That’s a problem when Obi-Wan impersonates a bald human bounty hunter for several episodes.

Adult fans of the Star Wars Saga will find that the fourth season of The Clone Wars is one of the few arguably essential ones of the franchise. Despite still having themes up front, The Clone Wars matures in its fourth season to be worth watching!

For other works in the Star Wars franchise, please check out my reviews of:
Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars - Episode II: Attack Of The Clones
The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Volume 1
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Volume 2
Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith
Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars - Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi
Caravan Of Courage - An Ewok Adventure

6.5/10

For other movie and television reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Outside The Unfortunately Yellowing Helmets, The Vintage Collection 212th Battalion Clone Trooper Is Wonderful!

The Good: Amazing articulation, Great coloring detail, Good sculpt for certain poses, Great accessories, Great balance.
The Bad: Facial sculpt/coloring is not exactly right, Yellowing helmet (already!)
The Basics: Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) is easily one of the coolest Clone Troopers and one that ought to be added to anyone's Star Wars toy or display collection!


You can never have too many Clone Trooper action figures, at least that is Hasbro’s theory. For my money, I tend to agree, but if I am shelling out dough for figure after figure that is essentially a repaint of a previously released toy, I want it to be wonderful. The Vintage Collection Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) action figure is very close and my main gripe with it is that Hasbro returned to using inferior materials and the helmet for this Clone Trooper is already yellowing and looking worn. While I understand that the die-hard fans might be psyched that this particular figure – in addition to having orange highlights to indicate it is part of the 212th Battalion – has a slightly recast belt to properly place it, it is essentially a recoloring of a prior figure and given that there are so many Clone Trooper figures, it is unfortunate when they feel like they are churned out for the dollars. In the case of the Clone Trooper (212th Battalion), using substandard plastic for the helmet insinuates that is what happened.

For those unfamiliar with Clone Trooper (212th Battalion), they were the standard Clone Trooper seen briefly in Revenge Of The Sith (click here for the review of the film!) on Utapau (where Obi-Wan Kenobi almost met his unfortunate demise!). The 212th Battalion Clone Troopers are the orange-accented Clone Troopers seen on Utapau and when Order 66 is received, they are the Troopers who attempt to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi!

The Vintage Collection casting of Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) is exceptionally articulated and would be absolutely perfect, were it not for the details of the figure underneath the figure's already-yellowing helmet.

Basics

The Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) is incredibly detailed both in the sculpt and the coloring. Standing at 3 7/8" tall with his helmet on, the Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) looks like an ideal soldier. The Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) was released in 2011 as part of Hasbro's Vintage Collection, with a classic-looking card.

This toy is a very cool sculpt, which is the standard Clone Trooper sculpt with a slightly different sculpt to the belt accessories and with orange accent paint on various points on the armor and helmet. The figure has a removable helmet. The figure's armor looks strong and durable and this sculpt features a softer plastic utility belt, which is not actually molded to the figure's waist. Beneath the helmet, the Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) is revealed to be a pretty loose interpretation of a Clone Trooper in the head and face sculpt. The head looks only slightly like Temuera Morrison and there are no molded-on details that are unique to Clone Trooper (212th Battalion)'s face that define him as a specific Clone Trooper that viewers might recognize.

The coloring is what separates 212th Battallion Troopers from other Clone Troopers and that is largely what makes the Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) distinctive. Unfortunately, the head underneath the helmet is not painted in realistic fleshtones. Instead, this figure's face is cast in a monotonal brown plastic and it is not highlighted with any other shades. The lips are uncolored, which is odd. The eyes are white and beautifully detailed as brown with black dots to add a level of realism the earliest Star Wars figures lacked.

But the armor and helmet is an amazing work of coloring detail, save that the white plastic of the helmet is already beginning to yellow. The Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) is an orange and white Clone Trooper and this one looks pretty amazing.

Accessories

The Clone Trooper (212th Battalion), efficient Clone Trooper who is ready to capture General Grievoius or assassinate Jedi, is granted only two pieces of equipment: a blaster and a blaster rifle. The blaster pistol is a clone trooper staple and this version is the 1 1/4" long blaster with the flattened barrel end which allows the Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) to hold the gun in a two-handed grip and look realistic while doing it! The monotonal black color the blaster makes it look clean and unused and matches the clean coloring of the rest of the figure. There is nothing that makes this particular blaster distinct to this character.

The Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) also comes with a blaster rifle, which is twice as long as the standard blaster. While cast in monotonal black plastic, and not accented, the long weapon has amazing molded details to its surface, like the power pack, scope and second hand grip. This figure looks great with the Trooper holding this blaster rifle in two hands, much like the picture on the package!

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and the Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) is exceptional in that regard. This Vintage Collection figure has great articulation and wonderful balance. The Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) is able to stand in some pretty outlandish poses, as well as stand in more standard poses. For additional support, he has holes in both feet which may be plugged into pegs on vehicle or playset toys!

The Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) comes with fourteen points of articulation, most of which are not just simple swivel joints. The Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) has joints at the ankles, knees, groin socket, shoulders, elbows, wrists, neck, and waist and he twists at any of those points. The shoulders, elbows, wrists, ankles, groin socket AND knees are all ball-and-socket joints. The head joint is also on a ball-and-socket joint and because of how the armor is designed on the sides, this is a more useful joint than the groin socket having the added articulation. The groin socket is designed to allow Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) to open his legs wider, presumably to straddle something like a Speeder Bike, but because of the raised portions on the upper outside of the thighs, the armor prevents much in the way of articulation from that joint. Even so, this represents a vast step-up in articulation for fans of the Clone Troopers!

Collectibility

The Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) is part of the 2011 Vintage Collection four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was a bit more common than many of the Vintage Collection lines. Because of the yellowing helmet and the prevalence of plenty of other Clone Trooper figures, this is not an ideal investment figure; it is one that has lost some collectible value on the secondary market already.

The Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) is VC38 in the Vintage Collection.

Overview

Outside the helmet and what is under it, the Clone Trooper (212th Battalion) is a great action figure. But, because of the yellowing problem and its overproduction, it earns a much softer “recommend” than many of its peers!

For other Vintage Collection figures from Revenge Of The Sith, please check out my reviews of:
VC17 General Grievous
VC39 Super Battle Droid
VC43 Commander Gree
VC46 AT-RT Driver
VC54 ARC Trooper Commander
VC58 Aayla Secura

8/10

For other Star Wars toy reviews, please visit my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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I Suppose You Can Never Have Too Many . . . The Legacy Collection Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper Is All Right!

The Good: Good articulation, Good sculpt, Good accessories.
The Bad: Not the most distinctive or interesting Clone Trooper
The Basics: With a few gray highlights, the Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper helps the build one’s clone army.


With the Clone Wars on the Cartoon Network, it is utterly unsurprising that collectors would find themselves with more than enough Clone Troopers to go around. One of the less incredible, but still better than basic, Clone Trooper action figures is the Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper, from the 2008 Legacy Collection of figures.

For those unfamiliar with the Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper, these were the clone troopers stationed on Coruscant briefly in Revenge Of The Sith (click here for the review of the film!). These were the gray highlighted troopers which never really stood out.

The Legacy Collection casting of the Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper is exceptionally articulated and recreates the background clone soldiers with additional gray armor and an antenna on the helmet. Otherwise, these are very basic Clone Troopers.

Basics

The Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper is incredibly detailed both in the sculpt and the coloring, both for the figure and his lone accessory. The buff, armored Clone Trooper stands 3 7/8" tall, like pretty much every other Clone Trooper action figure. The Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper was released in 2008 as part of Hasbro's Legacy Collection with the Droid Factory bonus. The Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper appears on the Stormtrooper helmet-shaped card with the rounded plastic bubble.

This toy is a very cool sculpt, though it is pretty hard to get a Clone Trooper sculpt wrong, given how Hasbro has been making them for years! This sculpt is the standard white-armored soldier with knee and shoulder pads molded on. This figure's helmet is not removable. The helmet has an antenna on it, which is a bit more distinctive than the other Clone Troopers.

As for the coloring, the Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper is good, though this is a very clean version of the Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper. He is clad mostly in white armor with the gray accented armor panels on the shins, shoulders and gloves.

Accessories

The Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper, combat veteran that he is, comes with only one accessory: a blaster pistol. The blaster pistol is a clone trooper staple and this version is the 1 1/4" long blaster with the flattened barrel end which allows the Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper to hold the gun in a two-handed grip and look realistic while doing it! The gunmetal color the blaster makes it look good and more weathered than the rest of the figure, which is a nice touch.

This figure was part of the "Droid Factory" line of the Legacy Collection figures and the basic premise was that for every six figures you bought, you'd get a seventh which would be assembled from parts in each of the six toys in the collection. The Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper comes with ;eft leg section of the MB-RA-7 droid. This is a silver-gray leg that has joints at the ankle and knee. This sets MB-RA-7 up to be exceptionally articulated, especially for a protocol droid. This piece is monotonally colored, but looks good for a clean droid.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and the Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper is amazing in that regard. Not only does this Legacy Collection figure have great articulation, but he looks good while having increased flexibility! The Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper is solidly built, has great balance, and is exceedingly flexible.

The Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper comes with fourteen points of articulation, most of which are not just simple swivel joints. The Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper has joints at the ankles, knees, groin socket, shoulders, elbows, wrists, neck, and bust and he twists at any of those points. The shoulders, elbows, ankles AND knees are all ball-and-socket joints and the head is on a ball joint, which allows his to nod up and down as well as look left to right. This Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper figure has more dexterity, balance and poseability than the earliest clone troopers.

For added support, should one wish to make improbable poses with the figure, there are playsets with foot pegs which fit into the holes in either of the Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper's feet.

Collectability

The Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper is part of the 2008 Legacy Collection four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was not incredibly common, but the Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper is essentially a clone trooper so minimalists might not want one. While this was not overly common at the time, the same mold has been used for subsequent Clone Trooper figures that have the antenna on the helmet.

The Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper is BD17 in the Legacy Collection and is one that is ideal for collectors looking to make a massive and diverse Clone Army!

Overview

The Coruscant Landing Platform Clone Trooper is a good support figure, though not an essential one save for those who are collecting the Droid Factory figure!

For other 2008 Legacy Collection Build-A-Droid figures, please check out my reviews of:
R4-D6 Build-A-Droid
GH1 Commander Gree
GH4 EVO Trooper
BD2 Sandstorm Jedi Luke Skywalker
BD3 Sandstorm Chewbacca
BD7 Bane Malar
BD20 Saleucami Trooper
BD35 Pons Limbic
BD40 Captain Needa
BD43 Ugnaught Engineer

9/10

For other Star Wars toy reviews, please visit my index page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Attack Of The Clones Clone Trooper Figure Has Some Real Perks!

The Good: Cool accessory, Decent figure coloring, Great idea, Relatively inexpensive
The Bad: Poor balance on its own
The Basics: The Clone Trooper is a cool figure that is a must-buy for fans of the expanded Star Wars Saga.


When Attack Of The Clones premiered, one of the fundamental merchandising bits that was introduced in the process was the Clone Troopers. The Clone Troopers became a gamechanging character type that have now appeared in more hours of the Star Wars Saga (thanks to the animated Clone Wars) than even the Stormtroopers. And as far as merchandising goes, Hasbro actually got something very right right off the bat with the creation of the Clone Trooper action figure. Technically the second Clone Trooper figure (the first being the Sneak Preview version of the character on the green card), the Attack Of The Clones Clone Trooper holds up even today!

For those unfamiliar with the Clone Trooper, these were the armored soldiers of the Republic that went to war in Attack Of The Clones (reviewed here!). The forerunners to the Star Wars Stormtroopers, the Clone Troopers are generic soldiers of the Republic the do battle to prevent the Jedi from having to do all the fighting.

The 4" Clone Trooper figure is a pretty impressive action figure, even by today's standards, given that it comes with a tripod cannon!

Basics

The Clone Trooper is a good support figure for anyone's Star Wars action figure collection as it is a generic Republic toy. While there have been a slew of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and even Chewbacca figures, it is hard to play with more than one at a time without some serious suspension of disbelief. The figure stands 3 13/16" tall to the top of his helmet. This is a decent replica of the Clone Trooper and it is pretty incredible for a representation of a virtual character. This Clone Trooper has red paint on the armor that indicates which division it is a part of. Outside that, this is a completely clean white, black and red figure.

This toy is an awesome sculpt, looking precisely like the Republic Clone Trooper. The Clone Trooper is good in its coloring detail, but is very basic in its sculpting. This figure is made to look assembled and it succeeds with that. The figure’s belt includes molded details, presumably for ammo, and the back of the figure actually looks remarkable, too. The back of the helmet has what looks like a port and that level of detailing is very cool!

Accessories

The Clone Trooper is mostly bought for its cool accessory, the Firing Tripod Cannon, though it also comes with a blaster rifle and chunk of ground. The 2 3/4” tall and 3 1/4" long cannon has three legs which make for a weapon with a 2 1/4" wide footprint. The gun has two grips for the figure’s hand. The Clone Troopers hands are molded to grab both handles on the cannon and when it stands behind the cannon it looks great and seems like it is ready to take aim. While the cannon is amazingly detailed for the molded details, it is monotonally colored in all black plastic, so it is not as impressive as the actual figure is in that regard.

The Attack Of The Clones Clone Trooper has a 2 3/8” long black speckled blaster rifle that fits in either of the figure’s hands. The butt of the gun is similarly speckled over the brown highlights Hasbro put on it. The gun looks good held in both hands and this rifle is a big honkin’ gun that has great molded detailing.

The Clone Trooper also comes with a 1” by 3/4" brown chunk of rock with a peg to be plugged into the hole in either of the Clone Trooper’s feet. This accessory allows the Clone Trooper to stand up better.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and Clone Trooper is very good in that regard. The figure is well articulated, though it has poor balance, especially compared to the subsequent incarnations of the figure. When detached from the heavy blaster, it may still be stood up, but it really is ideal with the piece of the ground that comes with the figure. With the holes in the figure’s feet, it may be posed in outlandish positions, especially on other playsets or vehicles.

This Clone Trooper has twelve points of articulation, with swivel joints at the groin socket, shoulders, elbows, wrists, head and waist. The knee articulation comes from hinged ball and socket joints.

What increases the figure's playability even more, is the launching missile. The Clone Trooper has a 3 1/4" missile which is pressed into the cannon and is launched by the touch of a button. The missile launches about 3' away and even after a decade of play this still works as well as it ever did!

Collectibility

The Clone Trooper is part of the Attack Of The Clones four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was exceptionally common. This was a pegwarmer at the time, but only because it was massively overproduced. It remains one of the least expensive figures to find from Attack Of The Clones

The Clone Trooper is Attack Of The Clones figure number 17.

Overview

The Clone Trooper may be slightly off balance, but the cannon it comes with more than makes up for its few deficiencies!

For other 2002 Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones action figures, please check out my reviews of:
#01 Acklay Battle Obi-Wan Kenobi
#02 Arena Escape Padme Amidala
#04 C-3PO
#05 Kit Fisto
#10 Shaak Ti
#13 Kamino Escape Jango Fett
#15 Geonosian Warrior
#18 Zam Wesell Bounty Hunter
#19 Royal Guard Coruscant Security
#23 Yoda
#26 Luminara Unduli
#27 Count Dooku
#35 Orn Free Taa
#38 Obi-Wan Kenobi Jedi Starfighter Pilot
#39 Supreme Chancellor Palpatine
#40 Djas Puhr Bounty Hunter
#41 Coruscant Attack Padme Amidala
#48 Destroyer Droid

8.5/10

For other toy reviews, please click here to visit my index page!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Two Badass Figures In One, The Vintage Collection ARC Trooper Commander Is Near-Perfect! (My 200th Star Wars Action Figure Review!)

The Good: Good coloring detail, Good accessories, Wonderful articulation, Great balance and poseability
The Bad: Cloth element bunches up problematically.
The Basics: The ARC Trooper Commander is an impressive enough Clone Trooper variant that is robbed of perfection by its “skirt” bunching!


I always hope that those who read my many reviews of toys, specifically Star Wars action figures, and note my dislike of cloth elements on plastic figures do not think that prejudices everything I write about a figure that contains both. No, I try my best to come to each toy fresh and with an eagerness equivalent to how excited I was when I originally purchased the figure I am reviewing. With the Star Wars Vintage Collection Expanded Universe ARC Trooper Commander, I was actually pretty psyched when I found one in the store to buy. But removing it from its package reveals the figure has a flaw not entirely evident when looking at it.

For those unfamiliar with the ARC Trooper Commander, this is yet another variation of the Clone Troopers seen in Attack Of The Clones (reviewed here!) and Revenge Of The Sith (reviewed here!). The package implies that this was one of the specialized Clone Troopers during the Battle of Geonosis, but the back indicates the figure is based on a character from the first The Clone Wars television series. Regardless, this is a pretty generic, but beefed-up, Clone Trooper.

The 4" ARC Trooper Commander appears to be an entirely new casting with exceptional articulation.

Basics


The ARC Trooper Commander figure stands 4 1/8" tall to the top of his helmeted head. He is a clone trooper who is specialized for warfare and is given some extra armor as a result. This clone’s armor is painted with red accents to the usual white and black armor.

This toy is a pretty wonderful sculpt, which is easy enough to do because the ARC Trooper Commanders were entirely digitally created characters. As a result, the standard Clone Trooper armor is modified slightly in that the helmet has a sensor scope, reminiscent of Boba Fett’s. Otherwise the big difference between this ARC Trooper Commander and most Clone Troopers is the armor's coloring and the shoulder guard. This Clone Trooper also features a gray and red cloth skirt that is independent of the gun belt on the toy. The cloth element is fair, but once one starts swapping the gun belt with the shoulder harness accessory, it is virtually impossible to keep the skirt from bunching up in an awkward fashion.

The ARC Trooper Commander is colored with the standard black and white coloring of Clone Trooper armor, but this one has red accents on the knees, hands, forearms, elbows, shoulders and helmet. Oddly, the red on the ring around the ARC Trooper Commander’s neck is a slightly darker shade than the rest of the figure. There is little other coloring detail on the main figure. However, the ARC Trooper Commander's head looks pretty much like it is supposed to, looking mostly like Temuera Morrison, though it lacks realistic shading. The lips, for example, are not red and the eyes are barely brown around the black pupils. Still, the sculpt and coloring are great, though this is very clean Clone Trooper's armor!

Accessories

The ARC Trooper Commander is a clone trooper and comes heavily armed and originally outfitted as a Commander. However, the ARC Trooper Commander comes with enough accessories to essentially reconfigure the toy as a standard ARC Trooper. As a result, this ARC Trooper Commander features a shoulder guard/sling, an ARC Trooper helmet and two blaster pistols. The ARC Trooper Commander's shoulder guard is an alternative to the full neck guard the figure comes outfitted with. With the helmet removed, the neck guard may be removed. One must then also unfasten the ARC Trooper Commander’s belt and remove that as well. The shoulder guard includes a single holster, instead of the two that the Commander’s configuration has. The shoulder guard is connected to the belt by a diagonal sling that is detailed to look like a belt. This accessory perfectly fits the ARC Trooper Commander and is even colored the same (down to the fact that the shoulder guard is a darker shade of red!).

The helmet is virtually identical to the helmet that comes on the ARC Trooper Commander. It has additional red detailing and a different breathing apparatus, making it look a bit cooler in the one respect, but the sensor scope is pretty cool on the other!

The blaster pistols are identical and fit all three of the possible holsters. Both blasters are monotonal black plastic guns with cylindrical barrels and they do fit in either of the ARC Trooper Commander’s hands (though the figure’s left hand takes a little bit of wrangling to accept the gun. These guns match the very clean look of the rest of the figure.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and the ARC Trooper Commander is very impressive for that. First, the figure has great balance. Flatfooted, the ARC Trooper Commander is pretty solid, and because of the lower half articulation of the figure, he has incredible posing options, on par with the latest and best Star Wars figure I've reviewed. As well, the holes in the bottom of his feet allow him to stand tall on any number of playsets in outlandish poses or attach to pegs on vehicles like the AT-AT or Republic Gunship!

The ARC Trooper Commander holds up even better in the articulation department! He has hinged ball and socket joints at the ankles, knees, groin socket, elbows, wrists and shoulders, as well as a ball and socket joint which allows a great range of motion for the head. The bust also has a ball joint for enhanced upper body articulation. This is one of the most poseable Clone Trooper-style figures on the market!

Collectibility

The ARC Trooper Commander is part of the Vintage Collection line that was released in 2011 and it is one of the harder ones to find, despite making a resurgence in the primary market at the moment. The ARC Trooper Commander is Vintage Collection figure VC54 and because Clone Troopers are so mass produced, there is no real need to use it to replace any prior ARC Trooper figure. That said, this one is far more articulated than the original one. At the current depressed price due to being available once again, this looks to be a strong investment figure and one suspects they will not last on the shelves long (the concept figures never do)!

Overview

Despite the ARC Trooper Commander’s skirt looking ridiculous when it bunches up that the top, the ARC Trooper Commander is a worthwhile investment and a figure that is exceptionally easy to recommend!

For other Vintage Collection figures, please check out my reviews of:
VCP03 Boba Fett
VC01 Dengar
VC05 AT-AT Commander
VC10 4-LOM
VC11 (Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot
VC14 Sandtrooper
VC17 General Grievous
VC22 Admiral Ackbar
VC30 Zam Wesell
VC33 Padme Amidala (Peasant Disguise)
VC37 Super Battle Droid
VC41 Commander Gree
VC46 AT-RT Driver
VC48 Weequay Skiff Master
VC49 Fi-Ek Sirch
VC50 Han Solo (Bespin Outfit)
VC53 Bom Vimdin
VC58 Aayla Secura
VC61 Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) Mail-In
VC65 TIE Fighter Pilot
VC82 Daultay Dofine
VC85 Quinlan Vos
VC86 Darth Maul
VC87 Luke Skywalker (Lightsaber Construction)
VC88 Princess Leia (Sandstorm Outfit)
VC89 Lando Calrissian (Sandstorm Outfit)
VC90 Colonel Cracken (Millennium Falcon Crew)
VC91 Rebel Pilot (Mon Calamari)

9/10

For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Quite A Bit More Adult, The Clone Wars Season Three Brings Real Darkness To The Star Wars Universe!

The Good: Tone, Overall story
The Bad: Lack of significant character development, Animation, Continuity
The Basics: While the third season of The Clone Wars is finally engaging enough for adult audiences, it lacks enough substance of character to enthusiastically recommend to adult audiences.


For those who have not followed my many reviews, I have not been wowed by The Cartoon Network's The Clone Wars. The animation is not as impressive as it ought to be, the character development has been ridiculously low and the explicit themes at the outset of each episode are very clearly geared toward children. So, when I sat down to watch the third season DVD set of The Clone Wars, it was with remarkably low expectations. The Clone Wars Season Three still suffers from the ridiculous title cards and has the same lame animation, but this season is much darker.

Filled with political messages, more gore, violence and some stronger sexual undertones, the third season of The Clone Wars finally seems ready to part with the child audience and commit to being for the adults who grew up on the original Star Wars Trilogy. To wit, The Clone Wars Season Three features several episodes before the appearance of Ahsoka Tano and when she does appear, she is less Anakin's padawan and more her own person.

In the third season of The Clone Wars features more arcs that build more complex stories and an increased sense of continuity . . . within the series, if not the franchise. The Clone Wars - the current series - seems to exist in complete denial of the Cartoon Network's earlier venture (Volume 1 is reviewed here, Volume 2 is reviewed here!), which had a few different plot points than this series. The most relevant difference comes in the character arc of Asajj Ventress, who gets a burn notice in this season and is the subject of the penultimate arc of the season. In the earlier series, she was killed by Anakin and the third season of The Clone Wars tells a very different story.

This season of The Clone Wars features the training of the Domino Squad of Clone Troopers. The troopers seem less competent than the other units to be trained on Kamino. After learning how to work as a group, the Domino Squad returns to defend Kamino from an all-out assault by Asajj Ventress. Following that, the war turns toward politics with Bail Organa making a diplomatic mission to get support for the planet Ryloth by going through the Toydarians. The Separatists then hire Greedo to take a political hostage, that Ahsoka must then rescue.

The politics of corruption are explored then when the series returns to Mandalore. There, Padme discovers the planet to be mired by corrupt politicians and Ahsoka makes a trip there to teach some students and find the root of the corruption plaguing the neutral system. Ahsoka then tries to protect Amidala from an assassination attempt by Aurra Sing, whom she thought dead from the prior season. Cad Bane re-enters the narrative when he takes C-3PO and R2-D2 hostage as part of a Hutt plan to destroy the Senate.

Padme gets her opportunity to fight for peace through a clandestine mission to a Separatist world where she has a friend. When the Separatist government makes motions for peace, Cad Bane's droids knock out the Republic Senate's power and makes it appear as if the deregulation of the banks is a necessary step in continuing the war at any cost.

In the wake of an unlimited budget for the war, Darth Sideous orders Dooku to kill Asajj Ventress. Dooku leaves Ventress for dead and when her body is recovered, she takes a trip to a planet run by a powerful coven. Joining with the Nightsisters, Ventress trains an assassin of the same species as Darth Maul to have her revenge upon Dooku. In the wake of Savage Opress kidnapping and killing the Toydarian King, Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka find themselves in a spatial anomaly, Mortis, where Ahsoka is infected with the Dark Side. The conflict on Mortis leads to a confrontation at the Citadel fraught with danger.

In many ways, The Clone Wars Season Three seems to be about capitalizing on that has worked for the franchise best before now, as opposed to making genuinely new stories. The appearance of Savage Opress is an excuse to do more with Darth Maul in a thinly disguised plotline that seems more of an exercise for fan animators than genuinely good storytelling. The popularity of bounty hunters is capitalized on through the reappearance of Cad Bane and Aurra Sing, as well as the appearance of Bossk. The use of Carbonite seems especially cheap, considering its use for freezing people was supposedly pioneered in The Empire Strikes Back.

That said, this season is solidly entertaining and it illustrates a much more realistic sense of the consequences and reach of war than the prior seasons did. Instead of being a parody of Star Wars, the third season of The Clone Wars has the scope and political acumen of an adult commentary on the nature of war. In fact, during one episode, all I could think was that it was unfortunate George Lucas and his team had not made similar statements back when they might have mattered, like 2003. It's much easier to make the edgy political statements when the Administration has changed.

While the sense of continuity within the series increases, it is at conflict with the prior season. That said, the resolution to the third season of The Clone Wars seems to be clearing the way for the fourth season of The Clone Wars to have greater continuity to Revenge Of The Sith. Most notably, the role of General Grievous needs to be expanded to make him seem like a legitimate threat, as he was at the beginning of the final film.

On DVD and Blu-Ray, the third season of The Clone Wars has featurettes that explore some of the new characters, aliens and the role of this season in the overall Star Wars mythos. Outside one of the later episodes, Anakin is not truly focused on and his character does not truly develop, save in the Mortis arc. But the Mortis arc gives the season just enough character to engage adults.

More than any of the prior seasons, The Clone Wars Season Three engages adult viewers and makes it a worthy investment for Star Wars fans.

For other Star Wars reviews, please visit my reviews of:
The Star Wars Saga
The Clone Wars
The Clone Wars - Season One
The Clone Wars - Season Two

6.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Marginally Better Than The First Season, The Clone Wars Season Two Is Still Remarkably Simple Science Fiction.

The Good: Action sequences, Moments of character
The Bad: Short episodes, Still more juvenile than I'd like, Frequently predictable.
The Basics: Largely unmemorable, The Clone Wars Season Two is still a decent progression on the first season of the animated series and moves the viewer closer to Revenge Of The Sith.


Back when I was working for the comic book shop, I would bring in movies or television shows to watch and one of them was the second season of The Clone Wars. So, this is going to be a shorter review than usual because I last saw these episodes was about three months ago and the twenty-two episodes were mostly action-oriented, so there is very little to discuss about them. That said, The Clone Wars Season Two follows on the heels of The Clone Wars Season One (reviewed here!) and continues to detail the struggles of the Jedi during the Clone Wars between Episodes 2 and 3. The thing is, the Clone Wars are supposed to set up the defeat of the Jedi and the number of victories the Republic has in this season make it a slower and slower process than is realistic.

In the second season of The Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, Ahsoka, is more grounded and less rebellious. Her missions on her own, like "Lightsaber Lost," are more vignettes with a pretty obvious message that panders to a younger audience than most of the series seems to be targeting. Ahsoka remains a largely unnecessary character in a work where she must ultimately die, so throughout the adventures in The Clone Wars Season Two nothing happens so extraordinary as to make one attached to the girl. In other words, when she goes, not only will most viewers not be surprised, most will not care.

This season, though, focuses more on Anakin and Obi-Wan, though to say the work is more character-driven is a fallacy. The Clone Wars Season Two is highly plot-driven. Anakin's temper is annoyingly under control, making his turn to the Dark Side less realistic and his interactions with Padme as more stereotypically "guy" responses as opposed to those of a complex or realized character. As such, episodes like "Senate Spy" seem more like a "type" than an actual vital story within the saga. Moreover, arcs like Boba Fett's return minimize the power of characters like Mace Windu and that continues to cheapen the overall power of the Jedi.

What the season does have going for it are generally interesting storylines and increasingly better animation. So while the show might be largely inconsequential, even to fans, it is not unenjoyable to watch. The animation is less blockish or pixellated in many places and there are no places where the season feels cartoonish, except with the "messages" at the top of each episode that seem like they are appealing to a lowest common denominator of people who might not understand the moral of each episode unless it is made explicit.

The second season of The Clone Wars is made up of a few multi-episode arcs that are broken up by bottle episodes. The main arcs for the season include bounty hunter Cad Bane getting a Jedi Holocron for Darth Sideous so the Sith Lord can find Younglings to experiment upon, a mission to Geonosis where the Jedi try to stop Poggle The Lesser from continuing to build his massive droid army for the Separatists and Duchess Satine of Mandalore struggling to keep Mandalore in the Republic while Separatists undermine the legitimate government there. Late in the season, the Republic sets off a massive bomb which awakens the huge Zillo Beast, which becomes a pawn in Darth Sideous's plans. And Boba Fett returns with the help of other bounty hunters to try to take down Mace Windu for killing his father.

The bottle episodes are far less interesting and involve Ahsoka searching for her lightsaber, a pacifist Clone Trooper, a cloaked fighter, and the Jedi defending a village from, essentially, a motorcycle gang. There is also a creepy, but derivative, episode involving a Clone Trooper infected with brain worms.

All in all, The Clone Wars Season Two is entertaining, but does not flesh out the larger Star Wars Saga in any meaningful way.

For other works in the Star Wars franchise, please check out my reviews of:
Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars - Episode II: Attack Of The Clones
The Clone Wars 
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Volume 1
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Volume 2
Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith
Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars - Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi

5.5/10

For other science fiction movies/television, please visit my index page!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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A Very Average Promotional Card The The Clone Wars Season 1 Promo Still Underwhelms.

The Good: Good image, Inexpensive enough, Necessary for collectors, Rarity
The Bad: Not informative, It's just one card.
The Basics: The San Diego ComicCon 2009 promotional card for The Clone Wars Season 1 is a disappointing promotional card made better only by its inherent value.


The San Diego ComicCon is a yearly convention that seems to have become, in recent years, a hub of activity for all things science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Each year, people from around the world trek out there to get the first glimpses at super hero movies, science fiction television and the latest information on comics and toys. Each year, it gets bigger and because it is a key place to market to the ideal demographics, it is a place packed with exclusives for sale. This ranges from toys to trading cards to maquette statues and collectors have some great opportunities to find some promotional items which they need for their collections. Among the many things found at the 2009 San Diego ComicCon was the exclusive promotional card for The Clone Wars trading cards.

Virtually every major blockbuster film or science fiction television show that is released these days comes with an accompanying release of a trading card set. Topps had the license for Star Wars for years, so it was almost no risk when they produced the The Clone Wars Season 1 trading cards, despite the fan base which was reacting in a more lukewarm fashion to the source material than they might like. Shows like The Clone Wars (reviewed here!) try to capitalize on the enthusiasm of the show as the appropriate season's DVD set is released right before the next season begins and the The Clone Wars Season 1 trading cards were released with the first season DVD set, right before the second season began airing on the Cartoon Network.

To prepare collectors for the release of the The Clone Wars Season 1 trading cards, Topps produced a promotional card. Promotional cards are designed to give collectors a tease of the new set and generate enthusiasm for forthcoming card releases. Topps gave only a few thousands of The Clone Wars Season 1 San Diego ComicCon promotional cards to collectors who were at the show in 2009.

The Clone Wars Season 1 San Diego ComicCon exclusive promotional card prepares fans for the style of the common card set for the The Clone Wars Season 1 trading cards. As such, this is a standard size trading card and there is no gimmick to it. It has the Topps standard UV protective coating to prevent fading and after less than a year, mine shows no wear (though mine is nicely protected in a binder's poly pages!).

The front of the trading card features the animated versions of Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano with their lightsabers drawn and at the ready. The image is clearly intended to generate enthusiasm over the heroes from The Clone Wars and illustrate the quality of the common cards. The image is exceptionally clear and all of the characters are recognizable. The front also features text at the bottom which advertises Star Wars, though oddly enough, not the actual set. This is the format of the common cards and it accurately predicts how the set would look.

The photography on the front is very clear and the color contrast is decent, which prepares collectors well for the actual set, and it generated some decent enthusiasm for the actual card set as this was not a very common image in the mainstream media. Those looking for something different to get signed will find this is not actually a bad image for any of the voice actors who play Anakin, Ahsoka, Yoda or Obi-Wan, but it might get crowded to try to get more than one to sign this card. Having four characters on the front of the card is likely to make this a choice that is a bit busy for the autograph hunters.

The back of the card simply announces the The Clone Wars Season 1 trading card set and this is a disturbingly uninformative promotional card. Because the card only discussed the card release in the most vague terms - focusing about as much on watching new episodes on the Cartoon Network as mentioning the composition of the card set - this is not as helpful as promotional cards that announce autographs, sketch cards or even the format of the cards explicitly.

In the end, this card is nice looking, but a tough sell on its own. The The Clone Wars Trading Card San Diego ComicCon card prepares the consumer for the common card set, but leaves them with little idea of what they are actually getting in a full box of cards. The only reason to pick this one up, outside the image quality, is the fact that as a San Diego ComicCon promotional card, it is rather rare. As a result, this is likely to continue to appreciate in value, though after a year, it is only about three times the value of the average promotional card. Still, San Diego ComicCon promotional cards have a history of appreciating, so this might be a good one to hold onto!

Otherwise, this is a very average (at best) trading card.

For other promotional card reviews, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Battlestar Galactica Premiere Edition P1
2005 Family Guy P1
Twilight P1

5/10

For other trading card reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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