Nathan Anderson

I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could, only because it's got a lot of annoying cartoon tropes throughout, but this show far surpasses its faults. The voice acting from the show's mainrunners is some of the best I've ever heard (the lesser characters are where the force is strong with cartoon derpiness, like a male hutt who speaks only Basic and has an effeminate Georgia accent), and it fleshes out characters in a way the prequels failed. This show "redeemed" the prequels for me. That's not to say that I suddenly love them or think they're great now, but Clone Wars helped put things in perspective. You really can see Lucas's grand vision and world-building and see the brilliance behind it all. The execution was flawed in the movies, but this show connects a lot of dots that felt off. There's a smoother and clearer transition in Anakin's journey to the dark side. His relationship with Ahsoka is one of the most brilliantly executed character dynamics I've ever found in any story-telling medium, and Ashley Eckstein and Matt Lanting steal the show, quite literally. To the point that I was constantly craving moments with them together on-screen whenever one or both wasn't present. It explores more deeply the moral issues accompanying breeding clone slave soldiers, how their unwavering loyalty could be flipped in an instant by the utterance of a single number, and the Jedi's passive complicity in the whole conflict. We get a better sense of how deftly the Jedi were manipulated by the Sith, and the sheer brilliance and scope of Darth Sidious's plot. James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan is nigh indistinguishable from Ewan McGregor, and at times I felt he did a better job, though that could just be better directing and dialogue. [Ewan McGregor as Kenobi is still the single best thing they got right in the prequels] His and Anakin's character dynamic is another one that makes the series. The late Ian Abercrombie (RIP) straight up plays a better Palpatine than Ian McDiarmid himself, and it was also a welcome surprise when they used Tim Curry to fill in for his unrecorded scenes in the last two seasons. I'm so glad I finally got around to watching this series. I've never once shed a tear over Star Wars, and I've been a fan since before I started forming permanent memories. But this show...I must have choked up or cried at least 5 times in the last 3 seasons. If you can wade through the cartoon tropes, there are so many gems to be found here, and the groan-inducing moments come fewer and farther between with time. Plus those groan moments probably appeal to the kids--this is NOT a kid's show, but rather a family-friendly(ISH) show for all ages.