Clone Wars Debriefing: "The Citadel"
Feb. 19th, 2011 10:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lazypadawanGo, Bulldogs!
Oh wait, not that Citadel. Instead of a Southern military-style academy, The Citadel in this show is a prison designed to hold Jedi. And the Seps are holding Evan Piell as an honored guest. It's up to Obi-Wan, Anakin, Rex and Co., and Ahsoka to bust him out.
It's simple, straightforward, and after the heavier and headier themes of the prior two story arcs, it may just be what the doctor ordered. As The Gleemo Blog put it in its review, it's a Season One adventure with Season Three animation. All of the classic Clone Wars elements are there: clones, battle droids, lightsabers, Michael Bay fireballs, derring do, torture, banter, narrow escapes, and movie references.
There's an interesting dynamic between Anakin and Ahsoka at the beginning of the episode. Anakin, due to what we know is his attachment issues and perhaps an effect of his experiences on Mortis, bans Ahsoka from the mission because it's too dangerous. Ahsoka sulks, then talks to Plo Koon, who reminds her it's Anakin's call but is clearly disturbed by the situation.
The plan to get into the prison is to get some battle droids who are now Artoo's "troops" (they're even painted with blue markings) to pilot a ship supposedly full of supplies. To hide themselves from life form scanners, Anakin comes up with the idea of freezing everyone in carbonite. Ah, so that's how he knows you can carbon freeze someone. Ugnaughts run the machines, which of course is a reference to TESB but now makes you wonder if carbon freezing is some kind of Ugnaught specialty.
The plan works brilliantly and we find out, once Artoo has everyone thawed, that Ahsoka has defied Anakin. He gets annoyed and Obi-Wan laughs at him. Ahsoka even throws it back in his face, in a nice way. Then, the rescue mission gets going. It's all pure excitement.
The commando droids turn out to be forces to contend with. They are tough, effective, nasty fighters. The action sequences, such as one where the heroes scale a cliff face earlier, and a Jedi/clones vs. commando droid fight in a corridor, are just as good as anything you'll see for $10 at the theater these days and nothing like what you find on television at all.
Evan Piell is rescued, and he sounds a bit Russian. He asks for some vodka and tells his rescuers they have to get the captain of Piell's captured ship from his cell. The captain has some valuable information. During the fight sequence that ensues, a big magnet is turned on and everything metallic gets sucked to the ceiling. This includes Anakin's robo claw, and unfortunately he is stuck right along with it. Then he gets a round of electroshock therapy.
Once they bust out the captain, it turns out to be none other than "Captain" Tarkin. No time is wasted before Tarkin and Anakin rub each other the wrong way. The whole thing ends on a cliffhanger...to be continued in two weeks. Bah!
The prison warden sounds like it's Christopher Walken, but it's really James Arnold Taylor. I hope he brought some Ricola for doing double-duty!
The animation is awesome. There are lots of little things to notice during the fight scenes, some of which happen so fast you have to really pay attention to catch them. Ahsoka for instance has some very fancy lightsaber moves.
And there were many other pitch-perfect moments, like Rex shooting out the camera or the warden having someone literally shoot the messenger.
My favorite pure adventure/action episode since "Landing At Point Rain."
Oh wait, not that Citadel. Instead of a Southern military-style academy, The Citadel in this show is a prison designed to hold Jedi. And the Seps are holding Evan Piell as an honored guest. It's up to Obi-Wan, Anakin, Rex and Co., and Ahsoka to bust him out.
It's simple, straightforward, and after the heavier and headier themes of the prior two story arcs, it may just be what the doctor ordered. As The Gleemo Blog put it in its review, it's a Season One adventure with Season Three animation. All of the classic Clone Wars elements are there: clones, battle droids, lightsabers, Michael Bay fireballs, derring do, torture, banter, narrow escapes, and movie references.
There's an interesting dynamic between Anakin and Ahsoka at the beginning of the episode. Anakin, due to what we know is his attachment issues and perhaps an effect of his experiences on Mortis, bans Ahsoka from the mission because it's too dangerous. Ahsoka sulks, then talks to Plo Koon, who reminds her it's Anakin's call but is clearly disturbed by the situation.
The plan to get into the prison is to get some battle droids who are now Artoo's "troops" (they're even painted with blue markings) to pilot a ship supposedly full of supplies. To hide themselves from life form scanners, Anakin comes up with the idea of freezing everyone in carbonite. Ah, so that's how he knows you can carbon freeze someone. Ugnaughts run the machines, which of course is a reference to TESB but now makes you wonder if carbon freezing is some kind of Ugnaught specialty.
The plan works brilliantly and we find out, once Artoo has everyone thawed, that Ahsoka has defied Anakin. He gets annoyed and Obi-Wan laughs at him. Ahsoka even throws it back in his face, in a nice way. Then, the rescue mission gets going. It's all pure excitement.
The commando droids turn out to be forces to contend with. They are tough, effective, nasty fighters. The action sequences, such as one where the heroes scale a cliff face earlier, and a Jedi/clones vs. commando droid fight in a corridor, are just as good as anything you'll see for $10 at the theater these days and nothing like what you find on television at all.
Evan Piell is rescued, and he sounds a bit Russian. He asks for some vodka and tells his rescuers they have to get the captain of Piell's captured ship from his cell. The captain has some valuable information. During the fight sequence that ensues, a big magnet is turned on and everything metallic gets sucked to the ceiling. This includes Anakin's robo claw, and unfortunately he is stuck right along with it. Then he gets a round of electroshock therapy.
Once they bust out the captain, it turns out to be none other than "Captain" Tarkin. No time is wasted before Tarkin and Anakin rub each other the wrong way. The whole thing ends on a cliffhanger...to be continued in two weeks. Bah!
The prison warden sounds like it's Christopher Walken, but it's really James Arnold Taylor. I hope he brought some Ricola for doing double-duty!
The animation is awesome. There are lots of little things to notice during the fight scenes, some of which happen so fast you have to really pay attention to catch them. Ahsoka for instance has some very fancy lightsaber moves.
And there were many other pitch-perfect moments, like Rex shooting out the camera or the warden having someone literally shoot the messenger.
My favorite pure adventure/action episode since "Landing At Point Rain."
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Date: 2011-02-21 02:13 am (UTC)In any case, though, the revelation of Ahsoka sneaking along (after the earlier "did she stow away? Will she be found?" tension) seemed particularly well-done to me. As for the little details of the animation, I was noticing how Obi-Wan and Anakin's hair was actually moving a bit climbing the cliff...