Samuel L. Jackson

‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ Boldly Goes Animated With Potent Story, Mediocre Animation, Anemic Acting

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:01:00 -0600

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” which is the inaugural animated “Star Wars” project from Lucasfilm Animation and “Star Wars” architect George Lucas, feels and looks every bit as introductory as a foundational attempt could be.

In many ways, the film again typifies what every “Star Wars” film always does. We’re again treated to yet another compelling storyline. Despite public perception that Lucas declared three years ago that the decades-long “Star Wars” saga has come to an end, Lucas now clarifies.

Jedi Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) prepares for battle in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.
Image credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Lucas merely says the Skywalker family plotline has runs its course.

Upon its completion, he now has a plethora of new stories to impart – and much more money to rake in – about the beloved galaxy so far, far away. In the “Star Wars” storyline, the three-year clone wars took place between “Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones” and “Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”.

Story aside, though, we’re again deluged with atrociously melodramatic acting (this time solely in the form of voice work). What’s most interesting is that the cheesy acting, which is legendary in the “Star Wars” saga, actually for the first time has found a better home.

Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) engages in battle with an enemy in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.
Image credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

The animated format actually manages to dial down the dreadful acting and makes it more tolerable than the live-action, human format.

In terms of the quality of its animation, which is clearly front and center in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” the film flirts in a middle ground between amateur and truly elite design work. The quality of the work neither completely underwhelms nor blazes a new path for the future of animation.

The animation ultimately pales in comparison to the world’s best movie animator – Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios – and much more closely resembles modern-day video games. You needn’t put this animation under a microscope to see the awkwardly square designs where decidedly smoother and rounder imagery should appear.

Heroic Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) confronts a foe from the past in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.
Image credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

It’s also no secret that “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” is essentially a feature-length, glorified television pilot for Lucas’ upcoming cable TV series of the same name. The 30-minute TV version, which will also be fully animated, is slated to premier on Oct. 3, 2008 on the Cartoon Network.

Lucas took a chance and cashed in on a big bet when he brought on his own “padawan learner” – Dave Filoni – to direct the feature-length animated film “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.

This image is Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman) concept art for “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.
Image credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Prior to the brazen Hollywood assignment, the relatively unknown Filoni only had directing experience with seven episodes of the low-profile TV series “Avatar: The Last Airbender”.

Now Filoni isn’t the only relative unknown who Lucas selected as a primary driver of the film.

Aside from original “Star Wars” actors Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of Mace Windu, Christopher Lee as the voice of Count Dooku and Anthony Daniels as the voice of C-3PO, nearly all other characters look like, sound like and act like their “A”-list counterparts but certainly aren’t.

Yoda, for example, is now voiced by Tom Kane rather than the famous Frank Oz.

Anakin Skywalker (who later becomes Darth Vader) is Matt Lanter (instead of Hayden Christensen), Obi-Wan Kenobi is James Arnold Taylor (instead of Ewan McGregor), Padmé Amidala is Catherine Taber (instead of Natalie Portman) and Chancellor Palpatine is Ian Abercrombie (instead of Ian McDiarmid).

Amid the bunch of newcomers and unknowns, Lucas does his greatest service with the introduction of the talented but reckless padawan learner Ahsoka Tano. Rather than being assigned to Obi-Wan Kenobi for her Jedi training, though, Yoda selects Anakin Skywalker to take her on.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” image gallery.

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More film reviews from critic Adam Fendelman.

Voiced by TV talent Ashley Eckstein (whose longest TV run has been eight episodes on “That’s So Raven”), Ahsoka Tano is as much the star in this film as any other more recognizable character.

Rotta the Huttlet (voiced by David Acord) is also an endearing character introduction. He’s the ailing baby of Jabba the Hutt.

Pixar, by the way, was actually founded in 1979 as a division of Lucasfilm. It was then spun off and purchased in 1986 by Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs.

The Walt Disney Co. then scooped up Pixar in 2006 for a not-too-shabby $7.4 billion. Lucasfilm Animation was founded in 2003 as a division of George Lucas’ Lucasfilm.

“Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” which is directed by Dave Filoni and written by George Lucas and others, stars Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, Tom Kane, Nika Futterman, Ian Abercrombie, Catherine Taber, Kevin Michael Richardson, David Acord and Anthony Daniels. The film opened everywhere on Aug. 15, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Despite Offering Tantalizing Possibilities, ‘Jumper’ Weakened By Formulaic Clichés

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:51:14 -0700

CHICAGO – As a distinct premise, “Jumper” offers tantalizing possibilities. The ability to transport yourself from one location to another with simple mind control is a cool rule of the world. While the film speaks to some of the far-reaching potential of the power, it also follows story formulas that weaken it.

Hayden Christensen in “Jumper”.
Photo credit: IMDb

David Rice (Hayden Christensen) is a high school geek in Ann Arbor, Mich. who desires a lovely lass named Millie (Rachel Bilson).

When a present he gives her is thrown by a bully onto a frozen river, David falls through the ice while retrieving it – certain to drown.

It’s then that he discovers he’s a “jumper” and has the ability in organic form to transport himself to another location just by thinking about it.

In the case of the river, for example, he jumps to an Ann Arbor public library. This begins his journey of using the power for his own gain (bank robbery) and essentially to live the good life in various famous locations throughout the world.

Samuel L. Jackson in “Jumper”.
Photo credit: IMDb

As the film likes to remind us, of course, there are always consequences.

Jumpers have been chased and eliminated by paladins for centuries and David’s main pursuer is Roland Cox (Samuel L. Jackson). He also finds out there are other jumpers – including Griffin (Jamie Bell) – who becomes a reluctant ally.

Still, David chooses to risk his power for the love of Millie, which exposes him both to potential capture by the paladins and the secrets of his past.

The story earns credit for immediately showing the bling-bling advantage of being able to go anywhere. Who wouldn’t want to do that?

The 15-year-old David makes the traceable mistake of hitting banks while also manages to live large up to the age of 26 by surfing in New Zealand, sunbathing on the top of a Sphinx and picking up a comely gal in London.

Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen in “Jumper”.
Photo credit: IMDb

There are several sequences where the jumping is simply spectacular especially when David is being pursued by the paladins and he’s going from location to location with pulse-pounding intensity. It’s in the unnecessary formulas, though, where the flaws lie.

By living his life virtually free of responsibility, why does Millie – as part of a tired romance cliché – become the single object of David’s desire?

It just didn’t fit with his rock ‘n roll jumper lifestyle. Christensen projects boredom as a jumper while Bell has a more appropriate paranoia.

Jackson as the main paladin is in full “Snakes on a Plane” mode as in “I’m sick of all these MF-ing jumpers on the MF-ing Earth”. It seems to have become his calling.

There is promise in the series (I smell sequel) if only they explore the cooler and more heroic possibilities of the jumpers and a more interesting rivalry or outright war against the paladins. I also have to wonder: Why in the name of movie soundtracks didn’t they use Van Halen’s “Jump”?

“Jumper” opened on Feb. 14, 2008.

Click here for our full “Jumper” image gallery!

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Illegal Tender’ is Yawningly Generic, Must-Miss Movie of Summer

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:25:00 -0600

CHICAGO – Though not billed as a comedy, “Illegal Tender” is one of those yawningly generic films that tries too hard to be taken seriously and ends up making you laugh.

If you haven’t heard of the film by now, it’s better to keep it that way.

Wanda De Jesus in “Illegal Tender”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
“Illegal Tender,” which opens on Friday, is the must-miss movie of the summer. Its story of revenge, redemption, ethnic pride and the glue bonding a troubled family is boring, predictable and overdone.

Scenes in which a mother and her 21-year-old son blaze out of their posh residence with guns blazing in broad daylight and a cop nary in sight are particularly ludicrous.

Lead role selection in “Illegal Tender” also proved fatal.

A film like the new “Resurrecting the Champ” does well with a top-grade actor like Samuel L. Jackson taking the helm while “Stardust” is equally commended for selecting the relatively unknown Charlie Cox as the man of the hour.

Rick Gonzalez (middle) in “Illegal Tender”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
You know “Illegal Tender” is off to a paltry start when you see the rookie Rick Gonzalez attempt to strut the bad-boy, awww-yeah stuff that should spill out from his character.

Instead, he feels like a 21-year-old boy just going through puberty. He fires his first big-barreled gun like it was his inaugural BB gun at boy scout camp.

Featuring an entire cast of actors you’ve probably never heard of, the only talented performance who gives this picture any redemption whatsoever comes from Wanda De Jesus.

Had she been paired with a much better cast delivering lines in a much better story, then perhaps we might have seen a movie that was at least mediocre.

Rick Gonzalez (left) in “Illegal Tender”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
She’s a strong, single mom you don’t want to slight – for fear of getting gunned down, it turns out, from among her stashed arsenal in a basement safe her kids didn’t know about – and she has a brief stunt with a new boyfriend at a mature age.

That plot line ends up going nowhere fast, though, as the film proves her one and only man is her eldest son. That’s cute.

It’s also just as cute watching her slather together a sandwich just before whipping out dual hand canons and offing the bad guys who decide to come back for more after two decades.

My god, Franc Reyes: What were you thinking even attempting to direct this? You already pained us enough with “Empire”.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com