I have a bad feeling about this. Or at least I did through the first 15 minutes of this film. This is one of those movies that is so visually stylized, that it takes your brain several minutes to adjust to what you’re looking at. While I’m disappointed that the 2-D animation was abandoned for 3-D, that can be chalked up to personal preference in animation techniques about which I’m biased.
 
This movie returns us to the Star Wars universe at the height of the Clone War. Anakin Skywalker has proven himself to be one of the most gifted Jedi in the Republic’s arsenal. To advance his training, Yoda assigns a young padawan learner to Anakin’s tutelage. They have to work together to unravel the twisted plot of Count Dooku in order to preserve the Republic and rescue a baby Huttling.
 
To my surprise, this movie performed well above my expectations, which were for it to suck… big-time. The story is full of fun action and is written better than the newest trilogy of live-action Star Wars films. Not necessarily a tough task to accomplish. 
 
There are some moments that may make you groan. The use of some bad nick names was edging toward too cutesy for my taste. Some of Obi-wan’s lines are delivered in a tone more appropriate for conversation over tea than for use in a lightsaber duel and he always seems to be late getting into the action once the plot begins to unfold.
 
The 3-D animation isn’t anywhere near Pixar’s quality but it is most impressive as a whole. The atmospheric use of lighting is simply amazing in certain scenes. The application of texture and distance is great. The closer to an object the camera is, the more texture the object has. The only major downfall in the animation is some of the motions are stiff giving the 3-D animation the look of photographed action figures.
 
The design of the characters are well conceived, especially Dooku with his exaggerated beard. As annoying as the thought of a baby Hutt is, it turns out the creature is so ridiculous looking, you’ll have a hard time not laughing whenever it’s on screen.
 
As one who grew up with Star Wars and loves the original series, especially Empire, I tend wield a heavy staff of criticism with anything related. Games, comics, toys, movies… if it gets away from what makes the first trilogy so fun, I boo it emphatically. So, surprisingly enough, I think you should check this movie out. It’s a lot of fun and adventure, just the way a Star Wars movie should be. Too bad we have to wait until fall for the Cartoon Network series to continue the story.

Verdict | Watch It!

Sorry to disagree with you on this Gary, but look at the dialog in Episode 2 & 3 between Obi-wan and Anakin… there is guidance but it is always in a more light-hearted atmosphere than, say, the Qui-gon/Obi-wan relationship in Episode 1.

For the second point, I have no issues with Obi-wan using a stalling tactic to allow time for the mission to be accomplished and avoid unnecessary loss of life that would surely have happened if handled differently. It was done with deliberance and cunning, not anger and passion… THAT is the difference between Sith and Jedi.

Sorry to out-nerd you on this…

My major criticism which was not mentioned in the above article is that the dialogue between Anakin and his young female padawan is completely inappropriate. Jedi don’t talk like this and certainly not between Masters and learners. This is simply pandering to the current cultural and literary norms that absolutely prevent the young, headstrong, female star from showing any real respect to men. But I digress.

Another absurdity occurs when Obi Wan pretends to surrender to his opponent only to basically sucker punch him. Sith do that, not Jedi.