Film Review #82: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I almost wasn't going to consider this movie when doing Star Wars Month, but since the film got a theatrical release, I didn't have much of a choice.  I didn't want to count this for two reasons: firstly, the fact that this film is animated.  Secondly, the fact that the only way we could recognize any of these characters is because they call each other the names we know and loathe from the Prequel Saga.  Star Wars: The Clone Wars isn't nearly as awful as the others, but there is a specific amount of annoyance with it that panders to children and fanboys that wouldn't know any of these characters or settings.  Then, you add the pointless factors of the plot, but more on that later.

PLOT: The galaxy is in the middle of the great Clone Wars.  Anakin and Obi-Wan battle on various planets that no one has heard of and don't particularly care about.  While under a temporary ceasefire, Anakin and Obi-Wan meet Ashoka Tano, who is named Anakin's new apprentice.  After a short adventure of battling droids, the Jedi learn that Jabba the Hutt's son (WHAT?") has been kidnapped and that Jabba has offered the Republic his support if they find his son.

While the Jedi set out to rescue the little Hutt, they encounter an evil plot revolving around Count Dooku and his own plans regarding Jabba and the Jedi

What's Bad?: There isn't much to say about this film.  It's really just a pointless film.  It actually raises more questions than it answers about the universe, and none of the characters learn or change through it.  For example, we meet Anakin's apprentice.  Who is she?  Why was she not brought up in Revenge of the Sith or any of the books and novelizations before this?  What happened to her when Anakin became Darth Vader?  Then you have the whole Jabba storyline that goes nowhere.  It changes nothing in the saga and adds little to nothing but an additional two paragraphs to Jabba's page on Wookiepedia.

Then, you see the complete ass-raping they did to Anakin's character.  And while some would say that that is a stark improvement over f***ing Hayden Christiansen's horrid performance, I actually think this performance is even worse.  Not in terms of acting range, but just by the fact that this character is perhaps completely different from the Anakin George had established in the Prequel Saga.

Then, you have the horrible performances of Samuel L. Jackson and even Christopher Lee, reprising their roles in this film for no reason whatsoever.  They sound like they were quickly rushed into the recording, than swiftly left for their paychecks.  What was the point of having them in this movie if they were quickly replaced in the series?

Unlike the previous Clone Wars series, the movements in the lightsaber duels seems very wooden and stale to me.  It doesn't feel like people dueling, but more like a crappy SNES Star Wars game of dueling, where they swing every 2 to 3 seconds.

What's Good?: At least we got a decent series out of it, decent if not overblown.

Overall: This film is the perfect example of a "Film Fart".  It happened, it was pretty bad, it passed, and now no one remembers it.  The series we got was pretty good, but I think we could have gotten something better.  Especially since the series finale wasn't the Battle of Coruscant like the last one was.  Nevertheless, the film was pointless, but not terrible.  Kids will like it, but the casual moviegoer most likely won't.

Final Grade: C-