The Clone Wars (2003) Review!

 Alright! Today, in anticipation of The Bad Batch premiere, I thought I would take a look back at the 2003 Clone Wars television show. Created by esteemed Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky, The Clone Wars was a strangely produced show - 25 episodes, with each running from 3-5 minutes (Seasons 1, 2) or 12-15 minutes (Season 3). It makes it easy to binge! The entire show lasts about two and a half hours. 

A promotional image for the series.

Every episode contained minimal dialogue and fast-paced, well-choreographed action. Despite the short runtimes, the show expertly covered the epic Clone Wars saga, doing several things better than its reboot/sequel and doing a few things worse. It also showed some notable parts of the Star Wars saga, such as: 

• The knighting of Anakin Skywalker
• The gold plating of C-3PO
• The creation of these characters:
• General Grievous
• Asaj Ventress
• Padawan Sha'a Gi
• Made Kit Fisto great again
• Made the clones cool
• Voice actors who were kept for the 2008 series: 
• James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Tom Kane as Yoda
• Terrence Carson as Mace Windu
• Corey Burton as Count Dooku

Jedi Master Sha'a Gi!

Now, it's pretty obvious why the show had such great quality - This was the first Star Wars TV show since 1985's Ewoks. They obviously had a lot of high expectations to live up to, and they made sure not to mess it up. Ewoks is a tough act to follow... 

During my short time with the show, something that was amazing to me was how gripping it was. Even people in my household who weren't watching the show with me were drawn in. The lack of dialogue forced your eyes to be glued to what was happening on screen, and the eyes were enjoying it. The series is a testament to visual filmmaking. Visual filmmaking is not just an excessive use of slow-motion or desaturated color schemes. It's information conveyed through visuals, and, like Samurai Jack, the series is all the better for it. 

They nailed Palpatine's look!

Even though the animation is admittedly stylized and wonky looking to the casual viewer, I really dug it. It created an entirely different feel to the project that helps differentiate it from other Star Wars content, and it makes the choreography all the more fluid. 

Actually, the choreography is something I'd love to touch on. It's insane. Characters like General Grievous are the most brutal they've ever been - fighting four Jedis at once, grabbing their heads with his robotic feet, and slamming them into the wall - all in TV-PG form. Mace Windu and the Clones are also far cooler than all other interpretations. 

Easily one of the best Star Wars fights.

Something I absolutely commend the series for is the music. There are original musical themes that are so unique and different to the show mixed in with classic themes like the Imperial March. I can also confidently say that this is the only time I've ever felt anything for Anakin and Padme. Their love theme, Across the Stars, is beautiful, but the dialogue and intrigue behind any of their scenes are always lacking, even in the 2008 Clone Wars. Here, it actually hits. There's one scene I love where Anakin flies off in his starship, but not before floating near Padme's window to see her again. I loved it. 

The actual plot of the show is hard to judge. For the most part, it's short little vignettes about specific battles that happened during the Clone Wars, with the second episode being split between a plot to capture the Chancellor and one of Anakin's trials to become a Jedi Knight, the latter of which featured a very strange cast of Avatar-ish characters. In the overall plot, the series doesn't have that much going on, but honestly? A good, predictable show can be just as epic as a season-long adventure. 

The Clone Wars is even so good that it may still be canon. While the purchasing of Lucasfilm via Disney did cause most of the Legends lore and this show to become non-canon, I'm fairly sure most everything in this show still holds up. Even between the reboot and the movies, most of the things portrayed are easily left unchanged - Anakin's knighting, Palpatine's kidnapping, and Grievous' cough specifically. 

My only complaint about the show is that we didn't get more, and sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches. Would I have loved a fourth "season?" Of course! But does it matter, as long as I love what I have? Not so much. I'm glad that this series exists. I enjoyed it. 

Overall, I give Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2003) a 10/10. "The Clone Wars is a smooth blend of top-notch choreography, dialogue-lite action, and colorful animation that works to create a fine addition to Disney+'s content library."