Star Wars: The Clone Wars

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The best thing about The Clone Wars is the animation. I mean, after all, wouldn't it be easier to show Jabba the Hutt and all that drool if you could just draw him? And you can do so much more in animation than you can do in, say, Tunisia. Worlds that look different. Hutts.

There's another Hutt in this film, one we've never seen before. Who knew there were more? But you can do that in animation.

Plus, there's the idea that we're visiting old friends. Obi-wan Kenobi. Padme. Yoda. And that lovable character, Anakin Skywalker, who...oh. Well, let's forget about Ani's problematic future. Oh, but look: there's built-in humor in those pesky bad robots. That's a good thing, since it gets tiring seeing battle after battle after battle. And the story is lighter than the last film versions. Kids are welcomed back in, as nobody except robots seems to die in Clone Wars.

The worst thing about this film, though, is that there are too many problems to speak of. There's no clone war. Oh, there may be as background, but we never see it. The film spends most of its time on rescuing another Hutt. It's a charming device to advance the story, but the fact that we never get into the actual clone wars is problematic. The fact that the plot goes all over the universe, and I don't mean geographically, is problematic.

The whole movie is rather tiring and doesn't advance canon. The true-blue Star Wars fan should see it, though, because, well, what else is out there? But those of us who are waiting for the next Star Trek movie can, and should, wait.

Thumbs down.