[9.1/10] Volume 2 is a big improvement on Volume 1, which was no slouch. The art direction and creativity of the first installment of this “microseries’ was nothing to sneeze at, but my big complaint is that it was mostly just a big collection of little scenes which were enjoyable enough, but didn’t really amount to more than the sum of their parts.
Volume 2 corrects for that, creating essentially two big storylines that twist and connect and provide throughlines for this “season” of the show that has some real thematic resonance.
The first is more of a plot setup for Revenge of the Sith and another opportunity for Tartakovsky and company to show off their amazing animation skills, as General Grievous and his forces bring down an attack on Coruscant in order for Grievous to be able to kidnap the Chancellor.
There’s not much to it storywise, but there is a lot of interesting design and action work. Seeing Shak Ti and her allies protect the Chancellor against Grievous and his droid army created plenty of opportunities for impressive set pieces. The escape in elevator was superb; the fight in the subway station was kinetic and creative, and the final showdown in the panic room was claustrophobic and cool. Plus it provides one of the few direct continuity connections between Clone Wars and Ep. III with Mace Windu’s force choke accounting for Grievous’s cough.
But the real fireworks come in Anakin’s story, which really has two facets. The more pure adventure side of things is him and Obi Wan fighting the Separatist forces on Nelvaan. There’s some really well done material with Anakin meeting the locals, being dubbed their champion, and going and leading their abducted warriors into a revolt against their evil captors and experimenters, destroying their shield and power generator in the process. There’s real visual tension every step of the way, which leads to catharsis when Anakin wins the day and finds kindred spirits, but also releases the anger within him in the process.
That said, even better is the notion that this is the final trial for Anakin before he comes a Jedi Master, a dark echo of the trials Luke faced on Dagobah and of the sort of trials Jedi have apparently been putting themselves through for centuries. The Anakin we meet in Volume 1 is closer to the whiny brat-like kid we met in Episode II, but Volume 2 does a nice job, through montage, through flashbacks and references to Qui Gon, and through this last story, to bridge the gap between that impetuous kid and the accomplished, if conflicted Jedi Warrior we meet at the beginning of Revenge of the Sith.
And man, I just love the notion that this is Anakin having to look within himself. His vision in the cave is an outstanding visual parable, and vision of his future. It expertly creates a storybook metaphor for Anakin’s own life, of having this power that allows him to do great things and save people, but which grows and grows and ultimately turns him monstrous, until it attacks anyone and everyone he loves.
There’s also great parallels between him and the Nelvaan warriors who’ve been turned into cyborg monsters by the Separatists. He sees kindred spirits in them, even if they never truly share words with one another. They too are given power but warped in the process, made something different by the technology and control inflicted on them by a malevolent force. The way he works to save them, sacrifices his own “ghost hand” to make a better way for them, has real emotional resonance.
So does the moment when those warriors return home, and the remaining people of the village seem to recoil at what’s become of the men they once knew. But in the end, they are recognized by their children, who see through what these forces have done to their fathers and see the good in them, nicely echoing/foreshadowing the same way that Luke will recognize the good in his father and, ultimately, redeem him.
Star Wars: Clone Wars always had a visual acuity that made it easy to be impressed by. But it also often felt like thrilling but empty calories. Volume 2 adds on that extra layer of meaning, the one that starts telling more of Anakin’s story and developing him as a character rather than just showing the Jedi as badasses. In that, Tartakovsky and his team find an intersection between visual storytelling and a firmer narrative that both excites in the moment, and leaves you with a deeper understanding of the central figure in the Skywalker saga. That’s an incredible feat, and makes for one of the biggest accomplishments for the Prequel years of the franchise.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2017-12-11T07:08:51Z
[9.1/10] Volume 2 is a big improvement on Volume 1, which was no slouch. The art direction and creativity of the first installment of this “microseries’ was nothing to sneeze at, but my big complaint is that it was mostly just a big collection of little scenes which were enjoyable enough, but didn’t really amount to more than the sum of their parts.
Volume 2 corrects for that, creating essentially two big storylines that twist and connect and provide throughlines for this “season” of the show that has some real thematic resonance.
The first is more of a plot setup for Revenge of the Sith and another opportunity for Tartakovsky and company to show off their amazing animation skills, as General Grievous and his forces bring down an attack on Coruscant in order for Grievous to be able to kidnap the Chancellor.
There’s not much to it storywise, but there is a lot of interesting design and action work. Seeing Shak Ti and her allies protect the Chancellor against Grievous and his droid army created plenty of opportunities for impressive set pieces. The escape in elevator was superb; the fight in the subway station was kinetic and creative, and the final showdown in the panic room was claustrophobic and cool. Plus it provides one of the few direct continuity connections between Clone Wars and Ep. III with Mace Windu’s force choke accounting for Grievous’s cough.
But the real fireworks come in Anakin’s story, which really has two facets. The more pure adventure side of things is him and Obi Wan fighting the Separatist forces on Nelvaan. There’s some really well done material with Anakin meeting the locals, being dubbed their champion, and going and leading their abducted warriors into a revolt against their evil captors and experimenters, destroying their shield and power generator in the process. There’s real visual tension every step of the way, which leads to catharsis when Anakin wins the day and finds kindred spirits, but also releases the anger within him in the process.
That said, even better is the notion that this is the final trial for Anakin before he comes a Jedi Master, a dark echo of the trials Luke faced on Dagobah and of the sort of trials Jedi have apparently been putting themselves through for centuries. The Anakin we meet in Volume 1 is closer to the whiny brat-like kid we met in Episode II, but Volume 2 does a nice job, through montage, through flashbacks and references to Qui Gon, and through this last story, to bridge the gap between that impetuous kid and the accomplished, if conflicted Jedi Warrior we meet at the beginning of Revenge of the Sith.
And man, I just love the notion that this is Anakin having to look within himself. His vision in the cave is an outstanding visual parable, and vision of his future. It expertly creates a storybook metaphor for Anakin’s own life, of having this power that allows him to do great things and save people, but which grows and grows and ultimately turns him monstrous, until it attacks anyone and everyone he loves.
There’s also great parallels between him and the Nelvaan warriors who’ve been turned into cyborg monsters by the Separatists. He sees kindred spirits in them, even if they never truly share words with one another. They too are given power but warped in the process, made something different by the technology and control inflicted on them by a malevolent force. The way he works to save them, sacrifices his own “ghost hand” to make a better way for them, has real emotional resonance.
So does the moment when those warriors return home, and the remaining people of the village seem to recoil at what’s become of the men they once knew. But in the end, they are recognized by their children, who see through what these forces have done to their fathers and see the good in them, nicely echoing/foreshadowing the same way that Luke will recognize the good in his father and, ultimately, redeem him.
Star Wars: Clone Wars always had a visual acuity that made it easy to be impressed by. But it also often felt like thrilling but empty calories. Volume 2 adds on that extra layer of meaning, the one that starts telling more of Anakin’s story and developing him as a character rather than just showing the Jedi as badasses. In that, Tartakovsky and his team find an intersection between visual storytelling and a firmer narrative that both excites in the moment, and leaves you with a deeper understanding of the central figure in the Skywalker saga. That’s an incredible feat, and makes for one of the biggest accomplishments for the Prequel years of the franchise.