[Infowarrior] - OT: Just for George Lucas....

[Richard Forno]

Apparently LucasArts is angry that folks might be giving 'Clone Wars'  
less-than-stellar reviews before it opens and going after websites  
hosting such reviews that likely don't have deep pockets or might cave  
easily to legal pressures.  So  here's one such review from MSNBC.   
Dear George:  Deal with it.

-rick



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26159685/

The force is not with ‘Clone Wars’
Ugly animation and an uninspired storyline drag down the film
REVIEW
By Alonso Duralde
Film critic
updated 1:25 p.m. ET, Tues., Aug. 12, 2008

Legend has it that, on his deathbed, Orson Welles exhorted his loved  
ones to make sure that Ted Turner — who, at the time, was determined  
to colorize every black-and-white movie in his library — kept his  
“goddamn crayons” off of “Citizen Kane.”

But who will stop George Lucas from destroying the legacy of George  
Lucas?

“Star Wars” lovers have had to deal with lots of heartbreak in the  
past few decades, from Jar Jar Binks to dozens of different video  
versions to Greedo shooting first. And now there’s “Star Wars: The  
Clone Wars,” an uninspiring animated addition to the series that takes  
us back to a time long, long ago that many of us never wanted to  
revisit — namely, Episodes I-III.

If you love a “Star Wars” movie that begins with narration about trade  
routes, you’re in luck. As “Clone Wars” begins, the nefarious Count  
Dooku (voiced by Christopher Lee, one of the few actors from the live- 
action movies to reprise his character here) and his rebel droid army  
are making things difficult for the Republic. The Jedi decide that  
it’s a priority to form an alliance with Jabba the Hutt, so they pull  
Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) and Anakin Skywalker (Matt  
Lanter) out of battle to go and rescue Jabba’s son, who has been  
kidnapped. (The kid apparently has no name; he’s referred to as “Jabba  
the Hutt’s son” throughout, except when he’s referred to by some  
characters as “Stinky.”)

Joining them on this mission is Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), a  
Padawan learner who has been assigned to train under Skywalker. In a  
blatant attempt to make the movie more kid-friendly, Ahsoka plays like  
a character straight out of a Disney Channel sitcom — she’s a sassy  
teen girl with a halter top, a mini-skirt and a sarcastic rejoinder  
for every situation.

Meanwhile, Senator Amidala (Catherine Taber) tries to negotiate with  
Jabba’s uncle, Ziro the Hutt (Corey Burton), only to discover a whole  
conspiracy behind the kidnapping. Ziro provides the film’s one bit of  
shocking unpredictability, in that he’s been voiced by Burton to sound  
exactly like Truman Capote circa “Murder by Death.”

The character animation is astoundingly unpleasant, with human faces  
that would barely pass muster in a video game. Some of the battle and  
dogfight sequences are stirring, but since most of the combatants are  
either androids or clones — talk about cannon fodder — there doesn’t  
seem to be much at stake. What we’re left with is a lot of pew-pew-pew  
laser battles with occasional interruptions for “Hangin’ with Mr.  
Skywalker”–style interactions between Anakin and his Padawan.

Everything about “Clone Wars” feels a little off. Yoda’s famous verb- 
at-the-end syntax gets so garbled by the writers that he eventually  
lets out a compound sentence that seems to make no sense whatsoever.  
Even the legendary John Williams theme has been so badly orchestrated  
that it sounds like it’s being performed by a third-rate middle-school  
marching band. Very young kids, “Star Wars” completists and Lucas  
apologists may find themselves compelled to attend; anyone else would  
have a better time going to the Toshi Station to pick up power  
converters.

© 2008 MSNBC Interactive

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26159685/