Robot Chicken: Star Wars III

I watched the third Family Guy Star Wars spoof recently and, while obviously the weakest of the three, I still found it quite good (bit like Jedi itself I guess). However what I was looking forward to the most was the third Robot Chicken spoof because I had laughed myself hoarse at the first one they did and even the weaker second one was very funny. Sadly though the third film seems to be running out of steam, with all the really sharp jokes on the subject gone already and the material having a feel of reaching or being the material taken from the cutting room floor of the first two films.

Perhaps it was an effect of this special having a lot of material from the three newer films because I am less familiar with these and do not have the affection for them that helps any spoofing. Perhaps it is this but undoubtedly the material is just not as funny as the previous films and there were a lot of misses in here. The emperor being the narrative frame didn't really work for me and there were too many jokes that didn't really work or that ran on too long. The storm trooper driving the deathstar was one, Luke at the gas station was another (although clever it wasn't that funny and lasted too long) and there are many more examples. It is a shame because the first spoof was so good and so successful (in terms of bringing non-RC viewers to the series) that they HAD to do another one and another one, even if the ideas are harder to come by as they go.

I did laugh during the special but it was much more sporadic and for too much of it I was sitting with that dumb smile on my face – the smile of a man waiting for a laugh because one must be seconds away, only for it not to come at all. Overall, this was more a case of amusing rather than hilarious, which for those who saw where they started, can only be a disappointment.