Robot Chicken

Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III takes a new look at the Star Wars Universe from the views of such characters as Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, and Gary the Stormtropper. With the use of toys from the popular movie franchise “Star Wars”, this new special tells the story of how Palpatine went from just a normal guy getting his first dream home to being the Emperor of the galaxy. Along the way other characters from all 6 of the “Star Wars” films get intertwined into the life of Palpatine making for one very unique and new view of these characters that was never seen from the films.

IT’S ALIVE:
The title of this should be enough to know what to expect from watching this but just in case it’s not let me give a little detail. It’s an hour long special that takes characters from all the Star Wars movies and tells the story of how Emperor Palpatine became who he is by using toys and figures from the movies. I’ve watched all the Star Wars movies, the main Robot Chicken show, as well as the previous Robot Chicken Star Wars specials and I got to say this was yet another great addition.

What’s amazing about this show is how the creators, Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, have taken toys and figures based off the movies and used them to create a new skit of the Star Wars franchise. Everything about this special is a parody of the Star Wars franchise done with amazing skill. The jokes are hilarious, the characters used just as funny, especially the character of Gary the Stormtrooper, and how detailed the set backdrops are makes this worth watching.

This show was done with stop motion camera work to get the figures/toys to be able to look as if they are actually moving. To be able to pull this feat off each figure/toy can only be moved a small fraction for each frame shot taken which would be a pain-staking long process. It pays off though because the movements made by the figures/toys add to the hilarity of the skits. Still, it’s the jokes and the one-liners used that make Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III so fun and funny to watch. My favorite of the skits was the escalator ride that Emperor Palpatine takes on the Death Star where he greets some Stormtroopers. I was laughing the whole time I watched this the first time as well as the second time and I’m sure that I will each time I watch it.

There’s only one real con about Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III, it’s not long enough. Even at an hour long it’s not enough and knowing that this is the last of them (at least for what’s been said), an hour long special is not enough to fill my need of it. By the time the special was over it had not seemed like I had just watched an hour, it felt more like 20 minutes. Although, I would have also liked to have seen a few more characters from the Star Wars movies being used in this special, the ones they do have make it great.