Star Wars: The Clone Wars - 1 1/2 smiles

As a fan of the original Star Wars trilogy with so-so interest in the next three prequel films, I was thoroughly disappointed with “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” The story was miniscule, the characters uninvolving, and the action repetitious. “The Clone Wars” takes place between “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith” and is a pilot for an animated television series, which explains why it is not live action. The basic plot involves Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) recovering the kidnapped son of Jabba the Hut. To assist him, Anakin has a padwan (apprentice), Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), eager to prove her worth as a Jedi. C3PO and R2D2 make brief appearances as do Yoda and Obi-Wan. We learn nothing new about Anakin; we do not see any aspects of his personality that even hint that he will become the ruthless Darth Vader. (Cartoons are pretty superficial, after all.) There is, however, plenty of action: droids and clone troopers blast each other again and again and again. Nonetheless, children will probably like “The Clone Wars” and after you’ve taken them to see this movie, you can stop at McDonald’s and buy them a Happy Meal, which includes a ‘Clone Wars’ toy. Adults should skip this movie. 8/17/08