Star Wars: The Clone Wars

(USA, 2008, 94 minutes)

Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker grumbingly takes on an apprentice and dashes off to the planet Teth to rescue Jabba the Hutt's kidnapped son, with a view to signing a treaty that will give the Republic access to several space routes — but it is the Sith who are behind the kidnap. Baffling but not entirely unpleasant animated space opera that returns to the Star Wars universe in between the narratives of Episodes II and III, purportedly to give fans some more of what they want but in fact to launch off an animated television series; while the storyline isn't half bad, the characters itself are haltingly realised and the whole enterprise looks more geared towards television and aimed at younger viewers. 

A Warner Bros. Pictures release. A Lucasfilm presentation of a Lucasfilm Animation production. With the voices of Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, John Arnold Taylor, Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kane, Nika Futterman, Ian Abercrombie, Corey Burton, Catherine Taber, Matthew Wood, Kevin Michael Richardson, David Acord; with Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Daniels; and Christopher Lee. Directed by Dave Filoni; animation directors, Jesse Yeh, Kevin Jong; produced by Catherine Winder; written by Henry Gilroy, Steven Melching, Scott Murphy; music by Kevin Kiner, from original themes by John Williams; film editor, Jason W. A. Tucker.