--- title: "Star Wars: The Clone Wars: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/star-wars-the-clone-wars/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/star-wars-the-clone-wars" critics_score: 40 critics_reviews: 16 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008): what the critics said Critics' score 40 from 16 reviews: 2 positive, 3 mixed, 11 negative. Most critics find The Clone Wars a thin piece of work, and the reviews lean negative: eleven of sixteen are unfavourable. Where there is praise it lands almost entirely on the animation and the action. Several critics admire the stylised CG and the scale of the set pieces, with Empire singling out a vertical firefight as the film’s best sequence. Nearly everyone notes that it plays like an extended television pilot; the kinder reviews take that as a fair description rather than a failing. The reservations cluster on the writing. Critics complain of stiff, repetitive dialogue, characters with no inner life, and a plot about rescuing Jabba’s infant son that most consider beneath the saga. Roger Ebert and others liken it to a Saturday-morning cartoon. The spread is narrow at the bottom, with most scores between 20 and 40. Only The Times and Empire recommend it, while Time Out concedes that Ziro the Hutt is the one reason to watch. ## The Times — Ed Potton Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 16 August 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. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/star-wars-the-clone-wars-s5zqnjw0rxs) ## Empire — James Dyer Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/star-wars-clone-wars-review/) ## The AV Club — Tasha Robinson Rating C+. 14 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/star-wars-the-clone-wars-1798204732) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 11 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/star-wars-the-clone-wars/4040221.article) ## The New York Times — Nathan Lee Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 14 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/movies/15clon.html) ## Time Out — Tom Huddleston Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 12 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/star-wars-the-clone-wars) ## Los Angeles Times — Michael Ordona Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 15 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-15-et-starwars15-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 14 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-wars-the-clone-wars-2008) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Michael Rechtshaffen Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 8 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/clone-wars-star-wars-movie-review-125038/) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 16 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/you-don-t-mess-with-the-zohan-12astar-wars-the-clone-wars-pg-899498.html) ## Slant Magazine Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 12 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/star-wars-the-clone-wars/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 14 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/aug/15/animation.sciencefictionandfantasy) ## Den of Geek — Ron Hogan Rating 2/5. 26 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/star-wars-the-clone-wars-review/) ## Eye for Film — Ben Sillis Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 14 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/star-wars-the-clone-wars-film-review-by-ben-sillis) ## Paste — Paste Staff Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 21 August 2008. 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. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/star-wars/star-wars-clone-wars) ## Collider — Billy Fellows Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 7 March 2026. 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. [Read the review](https://collider.com/star-wars-the-clone-wars-movie-worst-dave-filoni/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/star-wars-the-clone-wars.md