The Movie:

When Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released in theaters during the summer of 2008, I probably wasn't alone in responding rather dubiously to this latest venture into the Star Wars universe. The poster art and trailer offered a cartoon-ish glimpse at characters both familiar and unfamiliar in a format that seemed alien (no pun intended) to the previous Star Wars films. It seemed likely to enrage the anti-Lucas camp even more after the prequel trilogy failed to satisfy them (though, to be honest, I enjoyed those films even if they're not quite at the same level of the groundbreaking original trilogy). And, it seemed like a money grab, considering it was, for all intents and purposes, a pilot for the cartoon series on Cartoon Network.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars, however, isn't nearly as bad as I would have thought. In fact, as a standalone computer animated flick, it's fairly entertaining as a juvenile adventure story.

Several things herald that Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a departure from the original sextet of films that preceded it. For one thing, 20th Century Fox did not distribute the movie; Warner Brothers did. Seeing a Warner Brothers logo before a Star Wars film is a bit off-putting for those - like me - who were raised on the exploits of the Skywalker clan. Second, the opening text scroll setting up the events of the movie is gone. In its place is a rather clever introduction narrated by an excited young man stereotypical of news announcers from the 1930s and 1940s. And finally, there are the new characters . . . but we'll get to them a bit later.

First, let's go over the plot of the film. It's set dead in the middle of the Clone Wars, of course, between the events of the last two prequel films: Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The Jedi are stretched thin as the Separatist movement strengthens. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are pulled from the battlefield and assigned to a new problem: the kidnapping of gangster Jabba the Hutt's son. It's really a plot engineered by the evil Count Dooku and his assassin Asajj Ventress to pull the Hutt clan to their side and limit the good guys' ability to move about using space lanes owned by the Hutts.

It's an admittedly complex plot for a PG cartoon, but it's really just the glue that holds together one action sequence to another. And the action sequences are quite well done. They're epic in proportions and involve many different alien worlds. They're also filled with some humor, as the bungling 'droids from the prequel films show up to haphazardly and ineffectively fight the clone armies. This aspect of the movie is nicely realized.

Less successful are the characters. Of course, many of them carry over from the other films. Most are voiced by sound-alikes, although genre icon Christopher Lee returns with his booming deep voice for Count Dooku (and Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Daniels reappear in the roles of Mace Windu and C-3PO respectively, though their talents aren't utilized much in the film). However, some characters are new - and with one exception, they're disasters. First, there's Ahsoka Tano, an eager young Padawan girl who gets lumped in with Anakin as a foil. Her enthusiasm and grrl power grate just about as much as the oft-maligned Jar Jar Binks did in The Phantom Menace. There's also the ill-advised Ziro the Hutt, an effeminate brother to Jabba with neon tattoos who is a part of the conspiracy to kidnap Jabba's son (also a bad idea). Jabba's son is supposed to be this cute little worm thing with big eyeballs. Jabba's overriding concern for his son completely deconstructs his evil criminal mastermind aura developed throughout the series. The only new character that works is the mysterious Asajj Ventress, an athletic evildoer wielding two light sabers. She should prove an interesting menace for future episodes of the series.

Ultimately, the sheer energy of the movie's action and its colorful and nicely-realized animated environments trump the poorly-conceived new characters. This is a fun albeit inconsequential intergalactic romp. Hardcore Star Wars fans have some things to legitimately gripe about here, but Star Wars: The Clone Wars is worth a look and kids will certainly enjoy this. Recommended.

The DVD

Video:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is presented brilliantly by Warner Brothers. An anamorphic widescreen image preserves the 2.40:1 aspect ratio of its theatrical exhibition. The computer animation has vibrant colors and detailed landscapes that are fun to look at and come across quite nicely. I saw neither noticeable defects nor artifacts.

Sound:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars arrives with three different language tracks: English, French, and Spanish. All are Dolby Digital 5.1. As one might expect from a Lucasfilm product, the audio sounds strong and vibrant throughout. Effects work surround the listener during action sequences, and dialogue is always clear amidst the over-dramatic score.

Subtitles are also available in English, French, and Spanish.

Extras:

A commercial for the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars precedes the main menu.

More importantly, a feature-length commentary track is available featuring director Dave Filoni, producer Catherine Winder, writer Henry Gilroy, and editor Jason W. A. Tucker. It's an informative and insightful discussion of the making of the movie. Since they also seem interested in hyping the spin-off television series, Filoni and crew are a bit more enthusiastic about their film than it really warrants.

That's it for extras - though as noted above, a two disc edition of this movie is also available with additional extras.

Final Thoughts:

Despite some rather questionable new characters, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a fun and light detour into the Star Wars universe with wall-to-wall action and colorful computer animation. Recommended - though fans of the movie are advised to seek out the two disc edition if they're looking for extras.

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