The Clone Wars

Last weekend, I brought the children along with our helper to watch The Clone Wars in the cinema. It was a show most eagerly-anticipated in our household. We had McDonalds' for lunch (a sure winner) and bought the mandatory pop corn and drinks. I was surprised that there were fewer than 20 people in the cinema hall. It would seem that the rest of KL was not captivated by this inter-galactical tale.

Sons No 1 and No 2 did not take their eyes off the screen throughout the show. There were more than enough action sequences to keep them mesmerized. The complete opposite can be said about Son No 3. This was his second full-length feature film in the cinema, the first being Narnia - Prince Caspian. In Narnia, he sat quietly and happily as his complete attention was focussed on the pop corn.

In this movie, however, Son No 3 seemed unbearably distracted. It was freezing in the cinema. He was feeling cold, although he wore a sweater and I gave him my wool wrap as a blanket. Throughout the show, he could not help fidgetting and climbing onto me for a cuddle, all the time airing his grouse that he was too cold. If the cinema was packed, the people behind us would have been quite annoyed.

Did I enjoy the show? Not much. To put things in perspective, it must be recognised that it is a children's show. It had the feel of a television pilot for the TV series that will be launched soon. After the memorable words "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...." appeared on the screen, die-hard Star Wars fans would be disappointed that the iconic crawl of words, that disappeared into the distance, did not follow. Instead, a narrator described the situation - I think this could be for the benefit of the target audience - the children - who might not be able to read.

It was good to see the familiar characters again... Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, Yoda. I find the new character, a padawan trainee called Ahsoka, quite irritating. She is too "modern" (as if this is a sin for a futuristic show!) for my liking. Brash, opinionated, disobedient and loud-mouthed. How can such a character join the sage and dignified army of Jedi knights, I wonder. She was surely crafted purely for marketing purposes - heaven forbid, the younger generation can probably identify with her! Other comments - the plot was simple, the length of the show was manageable below 2 hours and the dialogue was minimal.

Conclusion: This is not a show for adult Star Wars fans, but for Star Wars fans who are still children. Are there many of them around? Maybe not in this part of the world. Well, I am at least grateful that the show is released just when my children are having the Star Wars fever. For us, the timing couldn't have been better.