Review: "Star Wars: The Clone Wars"

That's what I kept wondering as I watched Lucas' latest lame attempt to squeeze every last penny out of his 31 year old cash cow that he can, the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
I knew I was in for trouble when I saw the first trailer, when Yoda said "kidnapped, Jabba the Hutt's son has been." And lo and behold, Lucas built the entire movie around that, using director Dave Filoni as his lackey for hire.
Taking place between episodes II and III, Clone Wars follows Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, as they are sent to rescue Jabba the Hutt's son, Rotta the Huttlet (I'm not even kidding), after Jabba called upon the Jedi to help. At stake is a treaty with the crime lord for safe passage of Republic troops through the Outer Rim territories in the fight against Count Dooku and the Separatists. But there are much darker forces at work here - Dooku is behind the kidnapping of Rotta, with his lethal assassin Ventriss, who plans to kill Rotta and frame the Jedi, in order to form a deadly alliance with the Hutts.

But that's a different argument for a different review. Suffice it to say that doesn't make much sense when compared with the larger Star Wars universe and the films that came before it.
The major issue with the film is just how bad it looks. The animation is pathetic, betraying its small screen roots. Clone Wars is basically the pilot episode for a planned animated TV series that Lucas liked so much he decided to put it on the big screen. Which was a huge mistake, because Clone Wars is an utter mess.

Clone Wars is strictly second rate territory, aimed directly and children and hardcore fans, who aren't even treated with enough dignity to be given a decent movie. Instead they get this laughable cartoon that doesn't even attempt to hide its soullessness. It's a sad indication of just how far Star Wars has fallen, because in The Clone Wars, the original magic is nowhere to be found.
GRADE - *½ (out of four)
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS; Directed by Dave Filoni; Voices of Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kane, Nika Futterman, Ian Abercrombie, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Daniels, Christopher Lee; Rated PG for sci-fi action violence throughout, brief language and momentary smoking
Comments
I think Lucas should make a movie that bridges the gap between Indy 4 and Star Wars 1 - it would be the cinematic equivalent of the apocalypse. I can see it now - Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Padawan Sand Princess.