PRODITION
creator's Web site
Web site for downloading @ TheForce.Net

Read an interview with co-creator Jeremy West

review written 1/7/2004

Dreamland Digital has a very cool logo. Dreamland Digital, who, incidentally, is Jeremy West (joined by Scott Till), also makes an attractive crawl, although it moves far too quickly to read.

Absolutely top-notch space battling ensues. Admittedly the camera moves would be liable to make one seasick if the screen was much bigger. But the modeling is great and the effects are nifty. I do love Jedi starfighters.

The Jedi here are children. This could be problematic. Granted, of course, West's films are done in the spirit of family fun (either that or his grown-up friends refuse to act), and one can hardly fault the man for engaging in a fun, constructive and positive bonding experience with his children. But it sure makes it hard to accept a 'serious' story, which, so far, we've been led to accept.

I choose to think of the kids as being brought up in an Ender's Game-style environment. Maybe Jedi are like that.

The kids are actually pretty good, though, not the recipe for disaster one might expect. Well, the older two are, anyway. The youngest does his best for his age, which is all we can ask. (Is it my imagination, or is the first one to speak putting on an English accent?)

The Gary Coleman reference is funny but extraordinarily out of place. (Did the kids even understand the reference?)

But I do love the user of hyperspace rings.

Is "don't touch the beam / good safety tip" a reference to "don't cross the streams / important safety tip" in Ghostbusters?

Wow. Darth Zorn has a freaking awesome mask. Is that a mask or makeup or what?

Childlike potty humor ensues. And herein, again, marks Prodition's big problem. I don't get the sense that West had his mind made up if he wanted to make a serious film or a comedy.

I haven't commented on the great digital environments, or nifty decapitation effects, or awesome-looking fighter droid. The effects work is wonderful here. Given the obvious effort in the production of this tale, and the attempts made to impart a serious lesson within it all, I wish the goal had been clearer from the get-go, because every time the film changes tone, it suffers.

But the final credit and post-credits gag alone make this worth a watch. See, comedy has its place...