Star Wars: The Clone Wars Review Project

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In what's now old(By internet standards) news to most Star Wars fans out there, on April 26th, 2014 Disney announced that all of the previously-created Expanded Universe of Star Wars, outside of the six films and five-and-a-half seasons of The Clone Wars, were now non-canon, clearing the slate for future movies and a new Expanded Universe. I won't get into that much here, but it's relevant because 2014 marked the first day in my lifetime that the entirety of the official Star Wars series was actually manageable. There weren't seven hundred books, a thousand comics and thirty videogames anymore, it was just six movies, six TV seasons. I'd never watched the show, or even had much interest in it - after all, previously it was just another addition to the pile of hit-and-miss mediocrity that made up the EU - but now that the entire EU was comprised of only six TV seasons, I felt obligated, and even a bit excited to see it. I'd finally be able to be completely caught up on my Star Wars!


I was wrong of course, by the time I got around to watching them on disk in 2015, seven novels had been released into the new Canon and seven comic series were already underway with several more announced, but such is life, and I'm watching the show anyway dammit. And I'm going to share my thoughts on it here for no other reason than because I can. But first I'm going to establish a few things just so we're all on the same page.


So a bit about me and where I'm coming from while watching this show - I am, first and foremost, a fan who grew up with the original trilogy. When I say 'fan' I pretty much mean that the trilogy is the pinnacle of cinematic achievement, so bear in mind that I'm more than a little biased when it comes to Star Wars. That said, unlike many OT fans I am by no means a purist. I do not hate the prequels, in fact I quite like Revenge of the Sith despite its flaws, and am rather fond of The Phantom Menace. I'll hand it to the critics on Attack of the Clones though, that one was pretty bad.


As for the Expanded Universe, I've read a few of the books, I've played most of the videogames, and I've read(Or at least skimmed) hundreds of Wookipedia pages. I can tell you the names of most background characters from the films and I can tell you the parents and children of most of the protagonists and the adventures they went on, or how many clone bodies Sheev Palpatine had. Now while you're backing away slowly, I'll just say that I'll be watching The Clone Wars with it in mind that this is the only EU that exists - I'll be expecting it to stand on its own two feet using the movies as the foundation.

All that said, I'm not asking anyone to agree with me on any of my Star Wars opinions, I just want anyone reading this to know where I'm coming from - If you're an OT purist looking for another prequel-bashing reviewer, I ain't your guy. If you're an uberfan of the six movies and the Expanded Universe wanting someone to lament with them the death of the EU and its cartoon replacement... I'm also probably not your guy.

Too long, didn't read version: I just like Star Wars, man. And no, I'm not inherently bothered by the fact that TCW is a cartoon or that it's 'for kids'. The originals were also for kids. Deal with it. Though whether or not TCW will be able to match the all-ages appeal of the originals has yet to be determined.

Alright then, without further ado, I'll be reviewing the entire series throughout several upcoming blog posts, from the 2008 movie to The Lost Missions. Maybe I'll even do the now non-canon Microseries from 2003, who knows. I'll be judging each season based on story/stories, characters, lightsaber duels(As of now, an official judging criteria of Star Wars media), presentation, how believably it fits in between Episodes II and III as well as the overall Star Wars story, and, well, just how much I like it. To conclude this post with a quote from everyone's favorite nerf herder...

"This is where the fun begins..."

Index:
Clone Wars: Volume 1
Clone Wars: Volume 2
The Clone Wars (2008)
The Clone Wars: Season 1
The Clone Wars: Season 2
The Clone Wars: Season 3
The Clone Wars: Season 4
The Clone Wars: Season 5
The Clone Wars: The Lost Missions

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