Star Wars Clone Wars: Volume Two, review

Star Wars Clone Wars: Volume Two

When the first volume came out, I liked it, but I thought it could have been better. Volume Two is superior in every way. The story is much more focused and the subplots are better connected in season 3. Genndy Tartakovsky’s style is a little different here. It feels a little less stylistic, which is better in my opinion. The pacing is also refined.

The main storyline begins with the attack on Coruscant by the Separatists with General Grievous leading the kidnapping attempt on Palpatine. It is neat to see how animation frees the creators up to do what ever they want to. We get to see thousands of robots attack the city, as well as Yoda and Mace kick ass.

The other central plotline is even more compelling than the big battle. The focus is on Anakin and OB1 on the planet Nelvaan. Anakin is sent on a mission alone to save all the male leaders of this tribe. On this journey, he has a peek into his dark future and does end up doing some dark deeds in the process. I enjoyed seeing Anakin care about these aliens, but he cares so much that he ends up doing the wrong thing out of revenge. It reminded me of the incident with his mother on the Attack of the Clones.

I should also point out this volume also leads right up to Revenge of the Sith. The only major problem I have with this story is that I could have done with more storyline from both main plots. Because of the time format Lucas forced on the animation team, I felt they couldn’t fully express themselves with the limited time. Plus, the writing is much better than most of Lucas’ work of late. (They know how to write a love story, George). I just needed more.

In the end, it was an enjoyable 60 minutes of animation that at times is better than most of the stuff Lucas has written in ages. There are some very nice moments in this DVD.

Grade B+

Anakin: “Will I ever get to act in another movie again?”

Qui-Gon Jinn: “If I have my way, probably not.”

Anakin: “You’re mean.”

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Strangely enough, it is explained why General Grievous is more of a coward in the movie than in the books and the cartoon show. Count Dooku gives him some advice in the matter of retreating when necessary.