Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

Dear George Lucas

STOP SCREWING WITH THIS FRANCHISE, I BEG YOU. Episodes 4 - 6 practically re-invented the sci-fi genre, but then Episodes 1 - 3 took a serious downturn, due in no small part to the mis-casting of Hayden Christensen and also the violation of what you had set up in 4 - 6. George, what was the point of this film? Where in the timeline of the series does this movie fall? Why didn't we see Anakin's padawan in any of the live-action films? Why have plot and character been sacrificed at the altar of the aciton sequence? Granted, this is an animated movie, which usually means a kid's movie, and with their short attention spans, things have to be kept moving, but understand their parents are the same people who saw Episdoes 4 - 6 when they were kids themselves and are ruining it for them. You are ruining this once-great franchise, so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE STOP SCREWING WITH IT!!! Thank you.

PS: May the Force be with you again, because you've certainly lost it. November 27, 2008

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Most fans of the Star Wars movies will enjoy this animated filler that gives us some background information about what happened between Star Wars Episode II and III. The graphics won't impress you to the point you say, wow that's good, but they are decent enough that you shouldn't mind watching them. The storyline is also good enough to hold the interest of most people that liked the movies. Worth at least a rental. Good quality DVD with some replayability. If you enjoyed this catch "The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury".

CA Luster November 24, 2008

Cartoon Network show is excellent

Let me first start out by saying I am a 100% Star Wars fanboy. I own zero movies on DVD/Blu-Ray except for anything Star Wars.

That being said, I thought that it was a good idea for Lucasfilm animation to release a movie to promote/kick-off the Cartoon Network series. This movie, however, was not their best effort. I usually think everything that comes out of the Lucas camp is gold, but this one was way below average. A big miss people
Like other reviewers have stated, the story was very poor. I mean all the great writers from the expanded universe books and this is the best they can do? I love the prequel era books. I have read too may to count. Almost all of them are just fantastic. They have great characters unlike Asoka. I want her gone now. The "Skyguy" nickname made me cringe. It was the worst.

Enough about the bad, let's talk about the good. I have watched every episode of the Cartoon Network show on TV and it is just great. Why didn't they make the storyline for the movie like the series? They have the feel of Star Wars and I can't wait till they are released on Blu-Ray. Great job Lucasfilm animation on the network series. They are phenomenal. Now just collect all the remaining copies of the Clone Wars animated movie and bury them in the desert ala "E.T." the game.
May we never speak of this again. November 23, 2008

Back to the Future

The August 2008 release is set between Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It is a stand-alone story and - crucially - was designed as an introduction to a weekly animated TV series of the same name.

The animation-style has the look of Japanese anime and manga, while giving a nod to the supermarionation of the classic British 1960s series, Thunderbirds. The fight scenes are visually stunning in this presentation, though the dialogue to push the story forward often suffers from being quite stilted.

What makes for a successful TV series does not necessarily translate to the large screen (the reverse is also true). While obviously aimed at younger audiences and as a marketing tool, it does not set the foundation to propel this Star Wars universe concept into a remarkable movie franchise. November 22, 2008

Far, FAR away from great

I'm a Star Wars fan; which is to say I'm a fan of the original franchise before Lucas sold out and began making the films for merchandising rights and placed profit before storytelling. This is one more example, but I'll be more objective and base this review on content not bias.

In terms of the timeline, this takes place between episodes 2 & 3, but it undermines the Cartoon Networks animated Clone Wars cartoon (which was very well done). In the cartoon, Anakin is still a padawan but eventually becomes a Jedi and the timeline leads up literally to the opening scenes of episode 3. So where does this fit in? It doesn't.

In terms of characters, Anakins padawan is introduced. What padawan? Good question. There's never been a reference to Anakin ever having a padawan. Not in episode 3, not in the cartoon, not in the books. Nowhere. The character herself is an annoying, disrespectful, sophomoric twit. You can argue that Anakin was undisciplined, but Anakin didnt grow up in the Jedi Temple. She's the Jar Jar of the show. The only good thing is knowing that she must die before episode 3.

The animation is fine for TV, but it should never have been released in the theater, As a precursor to the series it works, aside from the fact that it never happened.

The best part of the movie/series are the clones themselves. This really shows them as people and individuals as opposed to the human robots we've come to see tham as. The entire movie and series would have worked better if it had been entirely from the point of view of the troopers, with the Jedi being secondary characters. That would have eliminated any undermining of the storyline, which is what Lucas ended up doing. November 20, 2008

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