The Animated Clone Wars Beats This Like A Bad Monkey

Rating: 3/10 (25 May 2005)

To begin with, I do not care how unpopular my opinion is about this film, I will defend it to the bitter end... Despite honestly giving it every benefit of the doubt I could in the wake of Episode 2, all remaining hope for the series was utterly dispelled within the first ten minutes of entering the theater, and nothing thereafter could resurrect it. Even taking into consideration the glowing opinions voiced by the "lucky few" reviewers who saw it the week before, and listening to friends and family who have all done more research than I, watching this film served only to prove that it was the greatest waste of good animators I have yet seen.
I am completely serious when I say that the animated Clone Wars beats the live action version so badly it's not even funny.
Reasons?
#1: The dismal lack of acting talent in direct proportion to the amount of on-screen time given to any character. (Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor vs. Samuel Jackson and Christopher Lee? Gimme a break...)
#2: The abomination of desolation that passed for a script. ("I've got a bad feeling about this" was tolerable when Harrison Ford said it, but hearing Ewan McGregor butcher it with the same accent that used to be reserved for the BAD guys just screams for vengeance.)
#3: Very, VERY poor judgement in plot advancement. (OK, it's time for Mace Windu to die so let's pretend his Jedi senses, not to mention his common sense, are on vacation and he can't anticipate Anakin's betrayal. OK, it's time for Grievous to die so let's pretend his dark side powers are no match for a blaster [!] when outer space, Jedi force powers and arms getting chopped off don't faze him.)
#4: Everything other than the graphics.
Really, I am disgusted to the point of being sick to my stomach at the thought of what this could have been and what it was allowed to become. I haven't even watched the second disk of the animated Clone Wars, and already I am more impressed, more moved, and far, far more concerned for the fate of even its side characters than I am for these wooden puppets Lucas has strung up and danced across his digital playground. Wait for the dollar theater and bring beer.