STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

rated PG

Art--->**
Heart->*1/2
Mind-->**
Fun--->**1/2

When old Ben first told Luke about The Clone Wars way back in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), the imagination of young boys everywhere went wild. You mean this world has a history? The Jedi were rock stars? And Stormtroopers, at one point, could actually hit something? This animated movie, set between Episodes II and III* purports to fill in the gaps in this legendary conflict.

After a brief newsreel-style recap of events leading up to it, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS launches into battle with completely computer generated guns, robots, jedi, clones and aliens. Anakin and Obi-Wan, lightsabers ablaze, are as rebellious and cranky as ever.

When Master Yoda arrives with reinforcements, he has a surprise for Anakin. A young female Jedi named Ahsoka has been assigned as his Padawan. She’s as brash and impulsive as Anakin, but unrefined in her approach. They have to work as both a team and as teacher and student.

Ahsoka was created solely for the purpose of attracting young girls to the STAR WARS franchise. She is one of those witty-banter-bordering-on-annoying characters that you are kind of forced to put up with. And she has plenty of made for TV attitude.

Without spoiling anything, please note that this movie is aimed squarely at children. So there are no love triangles, no earth-shattering revelations, and few truly ominous threats. Just lots and lots of action. At very least you can say that finally there is a Star Wars adventure that focuses on the actual WARS. And there’s also some comedic moments, mostly involving the battle droids, and the best character in the saga, R2D2.

From the strangely absent 20th Century Fox logo (for the first time it’s Warner Bros.), to the altering of John Williams Oscar-winning score, to the absence of the famous opening crawl… It’s quite obvious this is not your father’s Star Wars.

The animation style takes some getting used to, as the characters all look like they were carved out of wood or plastic or something. George Lucas said one of the stylistic inspirations came from the old Thunderbirds series. I have no idea why anybody would want to emulate that fake, clunky, wire-assisted puppet show, but maybe it’s just George’s nostalgia talking. Heck, I’m nostalgic for 1977, so who am I to judge? Still, it’s less than fluid, and during the lightsaber battles the characters’ movements just look blocky.

Once you get past the style issues, you get to my only real complaint. This definitely feels like a TV show**. Now that’s not necessarily a criticism; the story is perfectly serviceable for the small screen. But it lacks the cinematic quality you expect from a feature film, let alone one carrying the name of Star Wars.

So Star Wars is back. Sort of. STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS tries to rekindle fond memories of a galaxy far, far away, even while you nurse the wounds brought on by the uneven prequels. Maybe this movie will help you express hope for the potential of the ongoing series this fall. Maybe not. But at least your kids will have fun.

RECOMMENDED (for kids and some Star Wars geeks (like me))

NERD NOTES
*If you want to get really technical, it fits between Cartoon Network’s similarly-named-yet-vastly-superior "Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 1 and 2."

**What’s ironic is that the Cartoon Network series (helmed by the amazing Genndy Tartakovsky) had such a dynamic quality to it that it should have been projected on the big screen. That series handled all the elements in the frame with a streamlined pace, samurai style showdowns, and a cinematic eye that garnered it the Emmy Award it so rightly deserved. Watching these two different approaches back-to-back will only make this disparity even more obvious.