Clone Wars Episode 1: Ambush
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Originally aired October 3, 2008 on Cartoon Network.
In short: Yoda goes to meet the king of the Toydarians (Watto's people) on a moon to join the Republic, but-- oh yes-- Count Dooku sends Asajj Ventress to issue a challenge to Yoda, which Yoda accepts, over the fate of the Toydarians. Of course, the Toydarians didn't have too much say either way but they seem to like the Jedi. It plays out like a mix of a fable, a few episodes of Transformers (which had similar plots), and a PBS kids show in how Yoda treats the clones. Very touchy-feely, and the Clones are put off by this-- which is probably the right thing to do as to not lose older kids.
The pacing was pretty slow, but I think the real problem is that it wasn't so much slow as it was repetitive-- you're on a single planet for a full episode without much variety. If this were a Star Trek, at least you'd cut back to the bridge of the Enterprise, or perhaps multiple away teams could go through different things. Also, Yoda and some clones vs. anything-- it's not only obvious who will win, but it's so uneven that it's a wonder the Clone Wars lasted more than a few weeks. The Jedi are superheroes, and they're fighting the worst droid army in the history of ever-- how come the war took so long to win?
At 23 minutes (minus commercials) I can see why George Lucas insisted the previous series be about 3-4 minutes an episode. Honestly, this story was so light on plot that it could have easily been done in that short amount of time
Appearing: Yoda, Dooku, Asajj Ventress, Lt. Thire (clone), more Clones, Battle Droids, Super Battle Droids, Destroyer Droids
Pros: Neat scenery (which Yoda actually comments on), good voice work, good designs.
Cons: No wacky and vaguely culturally insensitive accent for the Toydarians, been-there-done-that plot, entire show takes place on a single planet with very little cutting away to make up for it.
Posted byAdam16bit at 8:55 AM
Labels: SWonTV, The Clone Wars (TV), TV Reviews
