‘Clone Wars’ makes the Force matter again

By Mike Avila

updated 8:44 a.m. ET Oct. 30, 2009

Time to Jedi Up.

“Star Trek” may have hogged the spotlight during its recent return from pop culture purgatory, but “Star Wars” is cooking up its own comeback. And a plucky Padawan and a couple of Clone Troopers are leading the way.

The revival of George Lucas’ space opera has been positively Sith-like in its stealth and cunning. It hasn’t even become a trending topic on Twitter yet.

But make no mistake, the hit animated TV series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” has made the Force matter again. The show has also served as a sort of olive branch to the many “Star Wars” loyalists who abandoned the franchise after the prequel trilogy.

The show, in the midst of its second season on Cartoon Network (Friday nights at 8 p.m.), has quickly become the channel’s biggest hit. Falling in step between “Episode II: Attack of the Clones” and “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” “Clone Wars” is centered on the inter-galactic brouhaha between the Republic and the Separatists.

With its newsreel voice-over opening and fast-paced mix of melodrama, action and lighthearted (though rarely goofy) humor, “Clone Wars” bears more resemblance to the old movie serials of the ’40s that inspired Lucas to create “Star Wars” than to the recent films.

“There’s a great desire on our show to make it feel like the ‘Star Wars’ that we grew up with,” said supervising director Dave Filoni. “George said to me that he wanted this show to feel like the classic ‘Star Wars’ films.”

Mission accomplished.

Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are prominently featured, as are familiar faces like R2-D2, C-3PO and Yoda. But it’s the new characters that have made the strongest impression. Chief among them is Ahsoka Tano, Anakin’s sassy Padawan.

“She’s a very popular and very positive character and one whose ultimate destiny is on the minds of fans around the world,” said Chris Wyman from the fan site TheForce.Net. “Everyone wants to know if she survives Order 66 (the order Palpatine gives in ‘Revenge of the Sith’ which turns the Clones against the Jedi).”

Bane of the Jedi
Season 2 of “Clone Wars” also turns the spotlight on the newest thorn in the Jedi’s side, bounty hunter Cad Bane.

Video   Web only: Meet the new 'Clone Wars' character Oct. 31: David Filoni, supervising director of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," gives an exclusive preview of the 'Clone Wars' new character, Barriss Offee. Today show

Bane follows in the grand tradition of legendary “Star Wars” bad-boy Boba Fett. He was created by request from Lucas, who wanted a mercenary based on Lee Van Cleef, an actor who often wore the black hat in westerns like “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly” (Cleef is “the Bad”).

The TV series format has helped with one of the primary complaints of the prequels — character development. Besides newbies like Ahsoka and Clone Capt. Rex, more than one “Clone Wars” fan has observed that animated Anakin is more believable than Hayden Christensen was in the movies.

Who knew Clones could be cool? Perhaps the crowning achievement of the show is its deft handling of some of the most under-appreciated characters in the “Star Wars” mythos. Previously known mainly for their clunky white uniforms and lousy aim, the troopers have been reborn as brave soldiers in the TV series.

Video   Web only: Working with George Oct. 31: What’s it like working with legendary filmmaker George Lucas? Supervising director David Filoni knows … Today show

They even got their moment in the spotlight during “Rookies,” a standout episode from season 1 that focused almost entirely on a group of Clones.

“I think it was a really smart decision by the creative folks to bring a sense of humanity and individuality to the clone troopers,” said voice actor Dee Bradley Baker, who voices most of the Clones. “It was a creative risk that paid off quite nicely because you care much more about these stories when you realize it’s human soldiers against robots, and not just faceless soldiers.”

After “Revenge,” “Star Wars” fandom reached its lowest point since the late 1980s. All the animosity over the prequels went a bit overboard, according to Entertainment Weekly’s Dalton Ross.

“(The prequel trilogy) wasn’t as dismal as some people would like to remember,” said Ross, the magazine’s assistant managing editor and a longtime “Star Wars” fan. “I’m not saying ‘Episode III’ was a perfect movie, but it had some great elements. If you compare ‘Episode III’ to ‘Episode I,’ it’s like night and day. And look, ‘Return of the Jedi’ had the Ewoks, so it’s not like that film was a perfect movie by any means.”

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