Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I went to go see a special screening today at 1:00 at the Mainside theater in Camp Pendleton. My little brothers, 5 and 4, were very excited because they are huge Star Wars fans. I guess you could say I was excited too. Well, I did not know what I was going to expect, since this was the first animated Star Wars. First I must say this was not as grandeur as the other Star Wars, but I am pretty sure that it wasn't meant to be. And I know that this movie is going to kick off the new 100 episode cartoon. I was a little disappointed that they had new voice overs such as the one for Kenobi and Skywalker, however the new voice over for Kenobi is hard to tell that it is different. For Anakin, however, I did not think that there could be a more annoying voice than Hayden Christensen. YOu actually are going to miss Christen's voice. But I tried to not pay attention to that, which was very distracting, and focus on the whole picture, the plot. In my opinion, the plot was too simplistic for a Star Wars film because the whole entire movie is about Anakin and his new padawan, I forget her name, trying to rescue Jabba the Hutt's son. Thats it. Kenobi and Yoda are barely in the film. I loved the fight scenes and the ones at the end definitely pulled the movie up. And the grand scale scenes were pretty impressive. I wasn't too impressed with some the humor they tried to pull off. I mean some of the slapstick comedy sucked so bad that I almost wanted to leave ethe theater. there were some humorous moments that actually made me chuckle a bit but most of the comedy was meant for kids younger than 10 years old. Great movie for the little kids and people that are going to watch the TV series but you need to be a true Star Wars fan to love this movie.

Yes, the opening intro without JW's music or the crawl was a HUGE mistake. (The voice over did make me cringe..ugh!) Yes, the human characters looked freakin bizarre (Kenobi's beard looked like a wood carving) and they should have gone with a more realistic look instead of the pointless style they used.

And yes, the story was pretty childish for a feature film aimed at adults...But that's the thing. This is an opener for a TV cartoon. It was not intended to blend right into the live action franchise. My kids liked it just fine, and I was not offended at all by it. In fact the action scenes were quite impressive. We finally get to see enough clone/droid mayhem to make people complain that it's too much (meaning almost enough clone/droid mayhem for me:) You guys are like a bunch of spoiled kids. Luke, Han, & Co. are NEVER coming back! Some day someone will probably do a series of re-makes or spin-offs that will have a more serious tone, and I agree that the franchise really needs that. But it won't happen while George is at the wheel. So if your going to get suicidal every time George cranks out one of his Disney-phase projects...Just stay away from it. It's not worth the stress.

What's the hate I really don't get it. Ok animation isnt the best it felt a bit choopy and they did a bad job on the character's face expressions. The writing was good for the most part not too bad or good. The voice acting was likable and the composition of the music was also well done for the most part. The characters were likable and we get to the see the beginning of the dynamics between Ahoska and Anakin.

It was a likable movie but not memorable by any means and I wouldn't watch it again even though it was alright for the most part.

The action in this animated film takes place sometime after that depicted in 'Attack of the Clones'. The war between The Republic and Count Dooku's droid army is still raging and both sides want access to the space controlled by Jabba the Hutt. When Jabba's young son is kidnapped the Jedi decide their cause will be helped if they are the ones to rescue him. Obi-Wan and Anakin are to lead the mission; they will be accompanied by Ahsoka Tano, a Padawan apprentice who Yoda has entrusted to Anakin.

This may not be the greatest addition to the 'Star Wars' franchise but I thought it was rather fun. The action is solid from start to finish meaning one can easily overlook some of the film's flaws. With the exception of Ahsoka Tano there aren't many new characters. No time is wasted reintroducing old characters; it is clear that the makers expect the viewers to have seen the preceding films. Ahsoka is a fun addition to the cast; I liked how her relationship with Anakin developed throughout the film. There are some weak points; the character designs took a little getting used to and I could have done without the 'amusingly' incompetent droid army... of course it is easy to forget that a key part of the 'Star Wars' audience has always been the fairly young. The voice acting is impressive; some characters kept their voice actors from the live action prequels but most didn't and the new cast sound like the originals. Overall I thought this was a decent addition to the franchise although I suspect it will appeal most to younger fans.

The traditional scrolling prologue is replaced by a transatlantic voice that would have been at home in a 1940's serial. From here, we are thrown into episode 2.5 of the Star Wars saga. This is pretty generic Saturday morning cartoon fare with wooden voice acting and two dimensional characters. The dynamic between Anakin Skywalker and his new sidekick, will grate on the nerves of anyone over the age of 8 years old. The stiff animation makes everyone come across as a cross between an action figure and a Thunderbird. For a theatrically released film there is nothing cinematic about it and feels like a feature length pilot for the animated series.

As a spin off from the Star Wars franchise, it's OK but purely for kids only.