"Robot Chicken" has always had a soft spot for Star Wars in its spastic reinterpretation of pop culture using action figures, claymation, and whatever else they can find. Compiling a bunch of their Star Wars bits into something (very) loosely resembling a narrative, Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III, like any of their episodes, throws everything to the wall to see if it sticks. Sometimes the gags work, sometimes they don’t, but overall the experience is much funnier and more reverent homage to Star Wars than the Family Guy episodes. At only 44-minutes long, Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III seems like an odd candidate for a Blu-ray release, until you take a look at the fantastic guest cast of Donald Glover, Seth MacFarlane, Donald Faison, Ahmed Best, Zac Efron, Tom Kane, Rachael Leigh Cook, Breckin Meyer, and Billy Dee Williams and all the extras, at which point the disc becomes a fantastic release for fans of the show and the Star Wars saga for many reasons.
Going the route of the teenage summer adventure flick, replete with the Who’s iconic “Baba O’Riley” accompanying Emperor Palpatine’s flashback kick-off, Star Wars Episode III follows the life of the man who would be emperor from his initial yearning for power up until that climactic showdown that sees him thrown down a bottomless shaft into the second Death Star’s core (which is where it starts). In between, every conceivable Star Wars-related scene Robot Chicken has done pops up, even if it has nothing to do with Emperor Palpatine at all. On one hand, even if you’ve seen a lot of it before, Robot Chicken’s barrage of jokes still proves entertaining, and by just doing a round-up of past Star Wars moments it keeps with the show’s style of randomly connected scenes in lieu of a narrative. On the other hand, would a new Robot Chicken narrative set in the Star Wars universe be so bad? Considering the blessing they apparently have from George Lucas (more on that in the “Bonus Features” section), why not use Robot Chicken’s unique brand of comedy and stop-motion animation to create their own new piece of Star Wars fan-fiction?
Considering the people on the show’s crew, it’s really not a stretch to assume that these are the kind of people who would write or have already written a few pieces of Star Wars fan-fiction. A straightforward narrative might not be Robot Chicken’s known milieu, but would it hurt to dabble in those waters? Or at least attempt it? Their episodic sketches are terrific, but considering the level of respect the show’s crew has for this source material, I can’t help but wonder how incredibly funny a story written by them while still referencing all the Star Wars stuff they can muster would turn out. Some of their best skits involve them filling in the gaps the films ignore, like the two stormtroopers who accidentally set fire to Beru and Owen Lars’ house during a routine blue milk and cookie break or Boba Fett’s awkward encounters with Queequay in the stomach of the Sarlacc. There’s so much space to fill in, and while Robot Chicken did a great job in their episodes, they certainly haven’t done it all, and it would have been superb to see something entirely new instead of previously aired clips glued together to make a 44-minute feature.
While this grievance is real, it’s forgivable when you start poking around the disc’s excellent and lengthy bonus features.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
"There are times when I feel really bad about what I've done." – George Lucas after hearing a Robot Chicken writer’s spot-on Boss Nass impression.
That moment alone makes this disc great. But besides a priceless meeting with George Lucas, Seth Green, and a few other members of the Robot Chicken junta at Skywalker Ranch (where they premiered Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III), there’s tour footage of Robot Chicken and Gym Class Heroes riding across the country and hosting skating parties, audio commentaries on each of the sketches making up the 44-minute feature, deleted scenes not used, Robot Chicken’s panel at Star Wars Celebration V, and some absolutely terrific interviews with cast and crew as they discuss their love for Star Wars and how working on Robot Chicken has made some of their childhood dreams come true. The extras just seem to go on forever and they’re all rather entertaining and help to underscore just how impressive it is that Robot Chicken gets some unbelievable voice guests for their program.
"Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III" is on sale July 12, 2011 and is not rated. Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Sci-Fi. Directed by Chris Mckay. Written by Seth Green, Matthew Senreich. Starring Abraham Benrubi, Donald Faison, Rachael Leigh Cook, Seth Green, Seth MacFarlane, Tom Kane, Zac Efron, Donald Glover.
