Diehard Star Wars fans—and there are legions—will probably be drawn to this latest addition to the canon, an animated feature film set in the period between events depicted in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith (so, if you collected all the action figures and can tell Boba Fett from a clone, feel free to add another star to my rating). Anakin Skywalker (voiced by Matt Lanter) and female Padawan apprentice Ahsoka (Ashley Eckstein) team up to search for the kidnapped baby of crime lord Jabba the Hutt, who has promised to let the Jedi travel to the Clone War's front lines via his private trade routes if they find the child. The battles that follow leave countless clone, droid, and alien bodies in their wake, and when the two warriors aren't fighting with others they're busy quarreling with each other, as proud, petulant Ahsoka resents taking orders from Anakin, who was a Padawan himself not so long ago. The animation is stylish, although the music and sound effects leave no doubt that director Dave Filoni's The Clone Wars is from the same George Lucas dream factory that turned out the live-action films. Unfortunately, this new entry so closely resembles its predecessors in theme and incident that many viewers will suffer from persistent feelings of déjà vu. Optional. [Note: On the two-disc special edition DVD and the Blu-ray versions, extras include audio commentary by director Dave Filoni, producer Catherine Winder, writer Henry Gilroy, and editor Jason W.A. Tucker, “The Clone Wars: The Untold Stories” previews from the first season of the TV series (25 min.), six webisodes (21 min.), “A New Score” (11 min.), four deleted scenes (11 min.), a 10-minute featurette on “The Voices,” a photo gallery, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is “A Creative Conversation” video commentary, and “The Hologram Memory Challenge” game. Also included is a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a film that will appeal mostly to diehard Star Wars fans.] (E. Hulse)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Warner, 98 min., PG, DVD: $28.98, Blu-ray: $35.99, Nov. 11 Volume 23, Issue 5
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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