Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

The review praises the film's stylised CGI animation and kinetic action sequences as an improvement in energy over the prequels. It highlights the broader cartoon style and impressive set pieces while noting concessions to animated conventions.

An enjoyable escapade and solid introduction to the upcoming TV series, though it feels more like television than a proper cinematic Star Wars film. The critic singles out the inventive vertical firefight sequence for praise.

The film feels like a videogame with repetitive battles and a talky focus on juvenile relationships; Ahsoka is a welcome addition but overall it lacks reason to be on the big screen.

Action-packed and visually impressive with photorealistic backdrops and solid light-sabre sequences, the CG-animated feature still feels like a supercharged TV pilot for the associated series. The animation is its biggest asset, though characters are less naturalistic and the story serves mainly to build buzz for the TV launch.

The critic notes that low expectations from prior prequels make the film a mild surprise as it avoids being the worst movie of the year, praising its uncluttered look and pace as a mechanical thrill ride while criticizing its stiff characterizations and lack of credible human feeling.

The film is a flimsy, kid-friendly videogame approximation of the Star Wars franchise, packed with bizarre distractions like the new Padawan Ahsoka and the burping Hutt son Stinky. Ziro the Hutt stands out as the most preposterous yet best reason to watch, making it at least better than The Phantom Menace.

The critic calls the film a weak effort aimed too low, with gorgeous animation undermined by poor writing, repetitious dialogue, and a nonsensical plot involving Jabba the Hutt's baby, concluding the Force is not strong with this one.

The critic finds the film a disappointing reduction of the Star Wars saga to Saturday-morning cartoon level, with poor animation quality, simplistic dialogue, and a plot that feels repetitive and uninspired.

The critic views it as a stiffly executed CG feature that serves mainly as a promo for the upcoming TV series, with limited innovation and lifeless dialogue despite some eye-catching sequences.

A minor release best subtitled 'Wait for the DVD,' essentially a pilot for the TV series that won't hold up as a standalone film. Primary school-age fans may enjoy the action, but the animation and story are criticised as below par even for Star Wars.

The critic finds the plot inconsequential and the action sequences brain-numbing, with grating banter between Anakin and Ahsoka plus script jaggedness undermining any visual strengths.

The critic finds the film a pointless cash-in extension of the Star Wars prequels with uninteresting subject matter and lifeless CGI characters. The review questions why George Lucas continues to produce more Star Wars content instead of something new.

The critic finds the film flat and underwhelming as a big-screen event, stitched together from TV episodes with little steam or fizz, though not quite as bad as The Phantom Menace. It singles out the weak overall execution and lack of excitement in the story of rescuing Stinky the Hutt.

The critic finds the film feels like a Saturday morning cartoon aimed at kids, lacking depth and character development, though praises the distinctive CGI animation.

The critic finds the film visually unappealing with outdated stylized CGI and a simplistic children's plot lacking any real threat or depth, rendering it tedious despite action scenes.

The critic argues that the 2008 film is poorly structured as a set of disjointed episodes with clunky animation and underdeveloped early character dynamics between Anakin and Ahsoka.