Having ploughed through several negative early reviews for this film, I expected the worst, but I was pleasantly surprised.
A cinematic triumph, it ain't, but by no means is 'The Clone Wars' revisiting 'Star Wars Holiday Special' territory (despite some rather histrionic, fan-boy reviews to the contrary).
'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' is, by & large, a taster to showcase the upcoming television series, so those expecting a fully fledged live-action motion 'Star Wars' film to rival 'Batman: Dark Knight' will most likely be disappointed.
Fans of the 'Star Wars' series of films will find 'The Clone Wars' less of a viewing 'chore' & most likely find much to like, especially if they acknowledge that this animated version of 'Star Wars' is firmly placed at the PG end of the galaxy.
Overall, the film is aimed at a young adults/children's demographic (despite the inclusion of a few violent scenes), & judging by the reactions to the film from younger members of the audience, it succeeded on that level at least (silence/laughter in the 'right places' etc).
The animation for 'The Clone wars' is not to the same standard as, say, a Pixar offering, though it is at times spectacular, with some finely executed battle set-pieces (almost 'Saving Private Ryan' without the blood). There is a retro feel to the design for film's various characters, each of which seems to have a 'hand-crafted' look harking back to the appearance of the marionettes seen in Gerry Anderson's 'Thunderbirds' series.
Despite the inevitable comparisons to Pixars' work, it could be argued that the animation rendered for the 'Clone Wars' betters the work of any number of Pixar wannabees/competitors released over the past few years.
The dialogue is (love it or hate it) purely comic-book and probably won't endear the film to detractors of the Star Wars prequels series, though ironically it is this film (as opposed to Episodes I, II & III) that imbues the character of Anakin Sywalker with a touch of personality (the sparring relationship between Skywalker and his new 'padawan' apprentice, Ashoka Tano, makes for some of the film's more engaging moments).
'The Clone Wars' introduces some 'new' characters Asajj Ventress (a villain first seen in the original 'Clone Wars' television series) & Captain Rex (a clone officer) both are welcome additions to the film but ultimately they seemed to have added little to the overall (fairly straightforward) story. This film being an introduction to a television series we'll have to wait & see what happens to them as their individual fates are not resolved in this movie.
Not all of the original cast (from the prequels) were available to lend their vocal talents to 'The Clone Wars', though the cast of voice-over actors do a superb job in filling in the gaps quite seamlessly. There are cameos from Anthony Daniels (C3P0) & Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), as well as, the magisterial tones of Christopher Lee (Count Dooku) to keep fans in the 'Star Wars' universe, though the absence of the familiar opening 'crawl' & theme music will be (again) disappointing for 'Star Wars'die-hards.
As an opening act for the new animated series, George Lucas & director Dave Filoni, will succeed in whetting the appetite for a younger generation of 'Star Wars' for more, though some long time fans of the series will find it difficult to accept some of the more 'cartoonish' aspects of the film (the realisation of Jabba The Hutt's extended family being one example).
Overall, 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' is a reasonably entertaining, visually pleasing, children's Saturday matinée film (following in the footsteps of traditional cliff-hanger matinées), invested with some design flair.
Little more, though certainly no less than that.
The more cynical of 'Star Wars' fans will probably complain about various aspects of the 'The Clone Wars' motion picture...but only after viewing the film 4 or 5 times.
A cinematic triumph, it ain't, but by no means is 'The Clone Wars' revisiting 'Star Wars Holiday Special' territory (despite some rather histrionic, fan-boy reviews to the contrary).
'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' is, by & large, a taster to showcase the upcoming television series, so those expecting a fully fledged live-action motion 'Star Wars' film to rival 'Batman: Dark Knight' will most likely be disappointed.
Fans of the 'Star Wars' series of films will find 'The Clone Wars' less of a viewing 'chore' & most likely find much to like, especially if they acknowledge that this animated version of 'Star Wars' is firmly placed at the PG end of the galaxy.
Overall, the film is aimed at a young adults/children's demographic (despite the inclusion of a few violent scenes), & judging by the reactions to the film from younger members of the audience, it succeeded on that level at least (silence/laughter in the 'right places' etc).
The animation for 'The Clone wars' is not to the same standard as, say, a Pixar offering, though it is at times spectacular, with some finely executed battle set-pieces (almost 'Saving Private Ryan' without the blood). There is a retro feel to the design for film's various characters, each of which seems to have a 'hand-crafted' look harking back to the appearance of the marionettes seen in Gerry Anderson's 'Thunderbirds' series.
Despite the inevitable comparisons to Pixars' work, it could be argued that the animation rendered for the 'Clone Wars' betters the work of any number of Pixar wannabees/competitors released over the past few years.
The dialogue is (love it or hate it) purely comic-book and probably won't endear the film to detractors of the Star Wars prequels series, though ironically it is this film (as opposed to Episodes I, II & III) that imbues the character of Anakin Sywalker with a touch of personality (the sparring relationship between Skywalker and his new 'padawan' apprentice, Ashoka Tano, makes for some of the film's more engaging moments).
'The Clone Wars' introduces some 'new' characters Asajj Ventress (a villain first seen in the original 'Clone Wars' television series) & Captain Rex (a clone officer) both are welcome additions to the film but ultimately they seemed to have added little to the overall (fairly straightforward) story. This film being an introduction to a television series we'll have to wait & see what happens to them as their individual fates are not resolved in this movie.
Not all of the original cast (from the prequels) were available to lend their vocal talents to 'The Clone Wars', though the cast of voice-over actors do a superb job in filling in the gaps quite seamlessly. There are cameos from Anthony Daniels (C3P0) & Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), as well as, the magisterial tones of Christopher Lee (Count Dooku) to keep fans in the 'Star Wars' universe, though the absence of the familiar opening 'crawl' & theme music will be (again) disappointing for 'Star Wars'die-hards.
As an opening act for the new animated series, George Lucas & director Dave Filoni, will succeed in whetting the appetite for a younger generation of 'Star Wars' for more, though some long time fans of the series will find it difficult to accept some of the more 'cartoonish' aspects of the film (the realisation of Jabba The Hutt's extended family being one example).
Overall, 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' is a reasonably entertaining, visually pleasing, children's Saturday matinée film (following in the footsteps of traditional cliff-hanger matinées), invested with some design flair.
Little more, though certainly no less than that.
The more cynical of 'Star Wars' fans will probably complain about various aspects of the 'The Clone Wars' motion picture...but only after viewing the film 4 or 5 times.