Lights: 2008. Action. Rated PG for sci-fi action violence throughout, brief language and momentary smoking. Running Time: 98 minutes.

Camera: Starring the voices of Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kane, Nika Futterman, Ian Abercrombie, Corey Burton, Catherine Tabor, Matthew Wood, Kevin Michael Richardson, David Acord, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Daniels, and Christopher Lee. Written by Henry Gilroy, Stephen Melching, and Scott Murphy (screenplay), and George Lucas (story). Featuring characters and setting created by George Lucas. Directed by Dave Filoni.

Action: I wanted to like this film. After all, it's Star Wars. I grew up with Star Wars. I spent many long hours in my imagination as Luke Skywalker (my brother was Han Solo), saw the original film 22 times in theaters, and memorized the dialogue to the point of being able to recite it on cue. My brother and I owned every action figure ever made by Kenner from 1978 to about 1982. I collected every issue of the Marvel comic series. In short, we lived, ate, and breathed Star Wars. So yes, I really did want to enjoy this film.

I didn't much care for the prequels. Phantom Menace was too childish, Attack of the Clones was plagued by wooden acting and uninspired story, and Revenge of the Sith was too dark (and also had wooden acting). So when I saw that Clone Wars was coming to the big screen, I held out a hope that this might hearken a return to the Star Wars that I remembered.

I was wrong.

Somewhere along the line, execution and potential split onto parallel tracks, doomed never to converge. Without giving any spoilers (as if anything could hurt your enjoyment any more than watching the film), the plot involves Obi-Wan Kenobi (voiced by James Arnold Taylor) and Anakin Skywalker (voiced by Matt Lanter) fighting alongside the clones to protect a city from hostile takeover by the Separatist Armies. A vessel lands on the battlefield, but instead of the expected reinforcements, it brings a young Togruta by the name of Ahsoka Tano. Obi-Wan assumes that she is his new Padawan, but the girl is quick to correct him. Master Yoda has instructed that she is to be apprenticed to Master Skywalker. Anakin, having already expressed his unwillingness to take on a Padawan, is taken aback, but Obi-Wan and the young Ahsoka are insistent.

Without reinforcements, it falls to Obi-Wan and Anakin (along with his new Padawan) to find a way to take down the Separatist army before the city can be captured. During the mission, Ahsoka proves that she is a capable Jedi and Anakin softens towards her, even giving her the nickname 'Snips' as a token of affection. After the city is saved, the Jedi are given another mission; the rescue of the son of Jabba the Hutt, who has been kidnapped. If the Jedi can locate the missing Hutt and return him unharmed, Jabba will agree to grant them safe passage through his territory, which could mark a turning point in the War.

As Obi-Wan heads to Tattoine to discuss the matter with Jabba, Anakin and Ahsoka follow the trail of the missing Hutt. Jabba's bounty hunters located the child, but were killed in an assault on the kidnappers' headquarters. Anakin is certain that he can fare better.

The voice actors are strong, and even manage to sound somewhat like their counterparts from the live action films. They convey a wider range of emotions than we witnessed from Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman in Attack of the Clones and, were it not for the other problems with the film, it would be well-worth watching.

The first problem I noted is that the music is not John Williams, nor is it performed by the London Symphony Orchestra (or even William's own Boston Pops). Orchestrator Takeshi Furukawa uses Williams' familiar overture, but the notes are so painfully precise that it rings with discord on the ears of one who grew up with the sweet, melodious tones performed by the LSO. The orchestra lacks emotion, leaving the music perfectly performed, but flat and completely without character.

Gone is the opening crawl; I guess that it was too much that kids today actually be expected to read something. It is replaced by a 1930s serial-esque announcer who fills us in on the recent events, bringing us up to date as we witness a montage that sets the opening scene. My first thought on seeing this was that we had started with the wrong reel!

While the main characters are strongly performed, particularly that of Ahsoka (voiced by Ashley Eckstein), the supporting cast leaves much to be desired. The battle droids interact in comical fashion, displaying far too much emotion and humanity. If they were mine, I'd hit CNTL-ALT-DEL at first opportunity. They banter amongst themselves, argue like an old married couple, and scream in terror when taking a long fall. The mechanical "uh-oh" and "roger-roger" from The Phantom Menace were acceptable, and perhaps even a bit amusing, but here the comedy is so ramped up as to make the characters seem ludicrous. They lose any sense of being a credible threat to the Jedi and become nothing more than Keystone Kops. One wonders why the clones bother shooting them; just wait a few minutes and they'll do it for you!

Neither am I fond of the blocky animation style. While the mini-series that aired on Cartoon Network between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith wasn't much better, I'd have preferred that style to this one. It does wonders for the robots and other inanimate objects, but the humans and living beings seem somehow less interesting. Would it have been too much to ask that the living beings look like living beings? After all, we've had the capability to create a realistic-looking digital human for almost a decade, now.

Finally, we come to the most obnoxious, unseemly, most un-Star Wars-like character since the introduction of JarJar Binks! Yes, I'm talking about Ziro the Hutt, Jabba's cousin who dwells on Coruscant. At first I had trouble deciding whether the character was male or female, given his high-pitched, Southern accent. He sounds like a refugee from Gone with the Wind! Ultimately, I decided that he's either flaming gay or suffered an unfortunate accident with a lightsaber as a child.

Aside from these problems, the film features decent characterization with a strong story. If it had been presented as a live-action, it might have beaten out the prequels. But this is a dumbed-down, children's fairy tale that uses the Star Wars universe as a backdrop. Only the most jaded, die-hard fans should waste the cost of a ticket on this one, especially since it is just the first three episodes of the new television series. Wait and watch it on Cartoon Network, but don't rush right out to get cable or satellite
just for this one.

Parents: It's clean, save for some animated, bloodless violence. Unless you have a problem seeing robots getting blasted to bits or cut into pieces with laser swords, I'd say let the kids see this one and find something else to hold your attention.

Rating: ** (out of five)