Okay, so being who I am it was only a matter of time before I saw this flick. I've been a Star Wars fan pretty much since birth, I just wasn't going to fork over the blood money to keep George Lucas' money train to crappytown going. It seems Lucas lost his golden touch somewhere in the 90s and his projects since then have been getting progressively worse. The Star Wars prequel trilogy was underwhelming and Indy IV was a travesty. If I remember correctly, I ran out of the theater screaming, "is there no God?" after that flick. Anyways: The Clone Wars.
In an effort to launch the new CGI series for Cartoon Network, Lucasfilm released what I can only see as the first four episodes as one 90 minute movie for theaters. The plot structure certainly shows that it should have been split into about four parts, or at least two. Aside from the set up in the beginning, there is literally perhaps thirty seconds of exposition tieing up the two halves of the flick. The plot is the weakest part of this movie, but if you've seen some of the most recent film additions to Lucas' beloved franchises, this shouldn't come as a surprise.
The die-hard fans will be annoyed with the inconsistencies scattered all over the stories and newcomers to Star Wars will be completely lost as no time is given to properly introduce the main characters. The filmmakers assume we all know who these people are. I can understand having some self-assuredness when you make a film with a big name like Star Wars, but don't insult those who may not be old enough to have been introduced to the series or too old to have followed the new trilogy by throwing them into the middle of what plays out to be a compilation of sci-fi war footage.
That being said, the visuals are all that keep you in your seat. Despite it not being connected by a solid storyline, I will even admit to watching a bunch of clones and robots and jedi going at each other to the death was entertaining. As a test of CG enginuity, this movie succeeds. It seems that Lucas' main goal with his most recent projects is to show off the new technology, but sacrifices the heart of the film to do it. That could make an admirable argument...if movies like Wall-E didn't do the same thing while still providing a strong and compelling tale.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is merely the most recent example of Lucas milking his franchise to death with his own lack of vision. I would love to see more Star Wars, but I don't want to see it from him. he did a great job setting everybody up, but at the rate he's going, perhaps it's time for others to take a whack at the mythology.