Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a 2008 animated feature film directed by Dave Filoni and executive produced by George Lucas. It was the seventh Star Wars film to be released in theaters, and the first since Revenge of the Sith in 2005. The film is a first for the franchise in two respects, being the first theatrically-released animated film in the series and the first Star Wars film not distributed by 20th Century Fox.

The Clone Wars served as an introduction to the animated series of the same name set to premiere on Cartoon Network on October 3, 2008; not to be confused with the similarly titled 2003 series from 2003. George Lucas was inspired to make the movie while reviewing footage from the show and described the film as "almost an afterthought." The film was released August 15, 2008 to mostly negative reviews and earned $14.6 million during its opening weekend.

Synopsis
The film begins with a narrator explaining the state of the war. The Separatists control the majority of the hyperlanes, leaving Republic forces stranded in different parts of the Outer Rim. An octopus-like craft heads for Tatooine to capture Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta as part of a plan to make the Hutts join the Clone Wars. Meanwhile, a fierce battle is taking place on the crystalline planet of Christophsis between the Republic's very limited clone army and the Retail Clan forces.

With the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Rex and Cody, the clones steadily advance on the Separatists' forces, gaining the Republic an early victory. It doesn't last long, though, as the droid army under General Loathsom soon returns for more bloodshed, and with no communications and the ability to fly in reinforcements, the fate of the few remaining clone soldiers are in the hands of Obi-Wan and Anakin. A shuttle soon comes with an important delivery; thinking it's reinforcements, the Jedi go to investigate - only to find a young Padawan named Ahsoka Tano, who insists that she has been sent by Master Yoda to serve as Anakin's Padawan. The battle soon commences yet again, with the Separatist forces advancing behind an expanding shield that artillery can't penetrate. Tasked with taking down the deflector shield, Anakin and Ahsoka succeed in penetrating the enemy lines, using all their stealth, cunning and ability to improvise, while Obi-Wan stalls for time by holding a fake surrender negotiation with Loathsom.

Soon after the final victory for the Republic on Christophsis, Master Yoda arrives with the urgent message that a mysterious group of renegades has kidnapped Jabba's son, and it's up to Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex and the clones to rescue him and bring him back home safely. Obi-Wan flies to Tatooine to assure Jabba that Rotta will be returned safely and to secure a promise by the Hutts to use their trading routes for safe passage within the Outer Rim.

After briefing in a Republic flagship, Anakin's forces descend through the clouds of the jungle planet of Teth for one of the many natural stone pillars which litter the landscape. Under heavy fire, Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex storm the monastery atop the pillar and find Rotta, who has gotten sick, only to be caught in an elaborate trap: Count Dooku has staged the kidnapping himself in order to blacklist the Jedi among the Hutts. First he has the Jedi retrieve the young Hutt to secure fake evidence, then Asajj Ventress, as the overseer of the operation, is charged with either retrieving or killing the young Huttlet.

Whilst quarreling all the while about the proper procedure, yet slowly gaining respect of one another, Anakin and Ahsoka manage to escape the trap along with R2-D2 and hijack a derelict transport, which they use to travel to Tatooine. Ahsoka uses medicine onboard to treat the sick Huttlet. Obi-Wan, alerted by Anakin, arrives just in time to relieve Rex and the rest of his forces and engages Ventress in combat where he manages to defeat her, though Ventress flees in the face of capture.

In the meantime, Senator Amidala learns of Anakin's mission. Worried about him, she decides to contact Jabba's uncle, Ziro the Hutt, who lives in a shady part of Coruscant. The Hutt strangely refuses to cooperate, and soon Padme finds out why: Ziro has actually conspired with Dooku to engineer the downfall of his nephew to seize the power over the Hutt clans for himself. Padme is discovered and detained, but a chance call by C-3PO enables her to summon help, and Ziro is soon arrested.

Upon their arrival on Tatooine, Anakin and Ahsoka are attacked by Magnaguards and shot down. Faced with a long way across desert sands and relentless opponents, Anakin devises a ruse; when Dooku corners Anakin, the pack he is carrying is revealed to contain merely rocks. Ahsoka and R2 travel with Rotta to Jabba's palace unmolested, but just as they near it, Ahsoka is ambushed by three Magnaguards, whom she narrowly defeats. But as Anakin and Ahsoka enter the palace one after another, they are threatened with execution by Jabba's men even though Rotta is safely returned. Padme calls just in time to convince Jabba of his uncle's duplicity, and Anakin and Ahsoka are triumphantly retrieved by Obi-Wan and Yoda.

Cast and characters

 * Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
 * James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
 * Tom Kane as Yoda, Narrator, Wullf Yularen
 * Christopher Lee as Count Dooku
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Captain Rex and the clone troopers
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu
 * Nika Futterman as TC-70, Asajj Ventress
 * Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
 * Ian Abercrombie as Palpatine/Darth Sidious
 * Catherine Taber as Padmé Amidala
 * Corey Burton as Whorm Loathsom, Ziro the Hutt, Kronos-327
 * David Acord as Rotta
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Jabba the Hutt
 * Matthew Wood as battle droids

Production
George Lucas and crew had the idea for a film after viewing some of the already completed footage on the big screen. Additionally, Warner Brothers had tracked the series' development from the beginning, and decided on a theatrical launch after viewing some footage, and deciding, "This is so beautiful, why don't we just go and use the crew and make a feature?" Lucas described the film was "almost an afterthought." The film was designed to both be its own story and serve as a lead-in to the weekly animated TV series of the same name. Some actors from the live-action films, including Anthony Daniels, Matthew Wood, Christopher Lee and Samuel L. Jackson, returned to voice their respective characters. Nick Jameson, who had voiced Palpatine/Darth Sidious in the previous Clone Wars series, as well as various video games, did not reprise his role; nor did Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker), Frank Oz (Yoda), Natalie Portman (Padme Amidala), or Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi).

The film's animation style was designed to pay homage to the stylized looks of both Japanese anime and manga, and the supermarionation of the British 1960s series Thunderbirds. At a Cartoon Network-hosted discussion, Lucas said did not want the Clones Wars film or television series to look like such movies as Beowulf because he wanted a stylized look rather than a realistic one, and he did not want it to look like the popular Pixar movies as The Incredibles because he wanted the film and characters to have its own unique style.

Release
At Hasbro's fall 2007 analyst event, it was announced that Star Wars: The Clone Wars would have a "theatrical launch" on August 8, 2008, with it beginning to be shown on TV during that fall. Although Lucasfilm had previously announced that it would produce an animated feature film in 2008, when initially asked for confirmation, an LFL representative replied that "It's one of the many things being discussed but we have no decisions yet. For us it's all about finding a creative way to launch a creative TV series."

At ToyFare 2008, a LEGO official announced that an animated feature film would be released in the UK in September 2008, and would be made up of the first three episodes of the series, with regular episodes airing later on television on an at-the-time unrevealed channel. Another report incorrectly stated that the film might have been made up of four episodes of the series. It was officially announced on February 12, 2008 that the feature film will be released in theaters on August 15, 2008, with the TV series debuting in the fall. Warner Bros. Showed a preview of the film in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 13, 2008. Lucas attended the event and held a question and answer session. The first theatrical trailer debuted on May 8, 2008 on five separate Turner Network channels. A second trailer was released in June 2008.

The film premiered at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on August 10, 2008.

Marketing


Dave Filoni was interviewed several times about the film and series, in which he explains the importance of the new character Ahsoka Tano.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars merchandise was first released on July 26, 2008, with Toys "R" Us debuting some of the products at midnight. Hasbro has released several toy tie-ins based on The Clone Wars, including a 3 3/4-inch action figure line, an electronic clone trooper helmet, a customizable lightsaber, and an electronic AT-TE. There will also be a LEGO toy line based on the film. McDonalds will sell Clone Wars-themed Happy Meals, the first time they've ever done a Star Wars promotion.

In 2007, LucasArts announced they were working on a handheld video game based on the series, ultimately announcing two games: Lightsaber Duels (for the Nintendo Wii) and Jedi Alliance (for the Nintendo DS). Handheld video games will also be released for the Leapster2 and Didj systems. Several books will be released, including a novel, storybook, picture books and an activity book. Dark Horse will publish a 6-issue comic mini-series. Topps will release trading cards.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released by Sony Classical on August 12, 2008. The disc contains the iconic main theme by John Williams, followed by more than 30 separate music cues composed by Kevin Kiner. Kiner is known for his work on such television series as Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: Enterprise, Superboy and CSI: Miami.

Home video and television
Warner Bros. also has the home video rights, and has already planned a DVD release of the film and TV series. The film's DVD release date is set for November 18, 2008. According to SpikeTV producer Terry Minogue, the channel will ultimately debut the film on television at some point after its theatrical release.

Box office performance
The Clone Wars earned $14.6 million on 3,590 screens its opening weekend, including $6.23 million on opening day August 15. It was the third-highest earning film of the weekend, behind the action comedy film Tropic Thunder and Batman sequel The Dark Knight, which earned $26 million and $16.8 million, respectively. Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures, said the box office performance met expectations because two-thirds of the audience were families, and because the movie was meant to introduce the animated series. Fellman said, "It was targeted to a specific audience for specific reasons. We accomplished that mission, and it will continue in another medium."

Critical reception
The film was almost universally panned by film critics prior to its theatrical release. The Clone Wars earned a 18% "rotten" rating among 122 reviews compiled at the Rotten Tomatoes site, as well as 5% among 22 "Top Critics." This constituted the lowest Rotten Tomatoes ranking of any Star Wars film; the previous six theatrical films ranged from 64% to 97%, and even the made-for-television Ewok movies and the much-derided Star Wars Holiday Special garnered higher ratings, although their averages encompassed far fewer reviews. At Metacritic, the movie scored 35% based on 30 reviews, earning it the status "generally negative reviews."

Ain't It Cool News, a movie review site, posted two reviews of the film during the week before its release, but pulled them down due to an embargo placed on those attending the screening its writers attended. The same reviews were reposted on the site the day of the film's release. The retraction prompted some readers to allege a conspiracy by LucasFilm to keep negative press out of circulation until the release of the film, but although the review by site creator Harry Knowles was negative, Drew "Moriarty" McWeeny pointed out to readers that his review was positive and that no such conspiracy existed.

Several critics compared The Clone Wars to a Saturday morning cartoon  and described it as little more than a plug for the upcoming animated series of the same name. Linda Barnard, of the Toronto Star, said the movie "pretty much drives a stake into the heart of every loyal fan of the movies. And now he's out to stick it to those too young to know about Jar Jar Binks." Film.com writer Eric D. Snider wrote, "Remember how people talked about the Star Wars prequels like they were the worst movies ever made, when really, come on, they weren't THAT bad? The Clone Wars actually IS that bad." Variety magazine reviewer Todd McCarthy said, "This isn't the Star Wars we've always known and at least sometimes loved." Joe Neumiar, of the New York Daily News, wrote, "If this were a true Star Wars film, right about now somebody would say, '...I've got a bad feeling about this.'" Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman gave the movie an F grade and wrote, "George Lucas is turning into the enemy of fun." Carrie Rickey, of The Philadelphia Inquirer, said, "The best that can be said about the movie is that it's harmless and mostly charmless. The Clone Wars is to Star Wars what karaoke is to pop music."

Many criticized the animation as cheap, wooden, unengaging and out-of-date     ; some reviewers drew negative comparisons to 1960s marionette-based shows Thuderbirds and Fireball XL5  , although George Lucas previously said the animation style was a deliberate homage to such shows. Tom Long of The Detroit News said the animation "is downright weak compared to what's generally seen on screens these days" and said the characters are so stiff they look like they were "carved by Pinocchio's father." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times and At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, said "the characters have hair that looks molded from Play-Doh, bodies that seem arthritic, and moving lips on half-frozen faces -- all signs that shortcuts were taken in the animation work." McCarthy said "the movements, both of the characters and the compositions, look mechanical, and the mostly familiar characters have all the facial expressiveness of Easter Island statues." But some of the same reviewers who criticized the animation acknowledged some positive elements about it; McCarthy said it allowed for "somewhat more dramatic compositions and color schemes," and Carrie Rickey, of The Philadelphia Inquirer, said the scenery and backgrounds were "vivid and alive", although she said the characters "move as you would imagine the statues at a waxworks might."

Reviewers also criticized the dialogue, which Ebert said was limited to "simplistic declamations" and Claudia Puig of USA Today described as "stilted and overblown, a problem also in some of the live-action incarnations." Many critics also agreed that the battle scenes were repetitive and lacked tension;   McCarthy described the action sequences as "a little exposition, an invasion; some more exposition, a lightsaber fight; a bit more blah-blah, a spaceship dogfight, and on and on." Linda Stasi, of the New York Post, also described the lack of character development in the film, writing that whereas the original Star Wars movies dedicated time to allowing viewers to get to know the characters, "Director Dave Filoni is so concentrated on the action that we're never given the chance to care who lives and who is blown into spare parts." Jason Anderson, of the Toronto Globe and Mail, wrote that although The Clone Wars is intended for younger audiences, "parents may be perturbed by the film's relentless violence." Ebert also found protagonist Ahsoka Tano cliched and "annoying,", and Michael Rechtshaffen, of The Hollywood Reporter, said the attempts of humoring amid the bickering between Tano and Anakin Skywalker are "strained". Puig, however, said she enjoyed the character and that "her repartee with Anakin enlivens things."

Not all of the critical reaction to the film was negative. In a positive review, Kenny Lengel of The Arizona Republic said the lack of hype surrounding The Clone Wars, as opposed to the 1999 release of The Phantom Menace, allowed him to enjoy the film due to lower expectations. He said of The Clone Wars, "if you're willing to regress to the mental age of 12 for a couple of hours, it's an amusing ride." Whereas other reviewers criticized the fact that it was plugging the animated series, Lengel described it as an asset for the movie, writing "it's not trying to be anything more, so it works just fine." Associated Press film critic David Germain called The Clone Wars, "reasonably fun, if generally forgettable" and that it "comes off as rather cute overall," but he said it would be better suited to television and that unlike the previous Star Wars films, it "definitely is not an event."

Chris Hewitt of the St. Paul Pioneer Press said he enjoyed The Clone Wars more than any of the films in the prequel trilogy, and said the female characters are handled better in this movie than in any of the prior three. He also said the animation heightens the lightsaber battles and although the style was "initally off-putting", he wrote, "there's a kind of logic to having all the 'Star Wars' characters resemble action figures." Baltimore Sun critic Michael Sragow admitted the movie was not innovative, but wrote, "young audiences will lap it up like ice cream, and its good humor and faith in the Force will put adults in a Saturday-morning frame of mind even at midnight showings." Many critics agreed that the return of Star Wars alumni actors Anthony Daniels, Christopher Lee and Samuel L. Jackson as voice actors in The Clone Wars was a positive aspect of the movie. Although Neumaier criticized the artistic style of the film, he describe a vertical assault up a mountainside as an exception and called the sequence "creative."

Trivia

 * The message WWW.STAR is written on a sign on Coruscant near Ziro's Palace. This sign was most likely a reference to StarWars.com.
 * The marks over Rex's visor resemble the marks seen over Boba Fett's visor in pre-production designs.

Characters

 * 4A-7
 * Ask Aak
 * Padmé Amidala
 * C-3PO
 * Cody
 * Davijaan aka Oddball
 * Count Dooku
 * Onaconda Farr
 * Grievous
 * Kit Fisto
 * Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes
 * Fox
 * Grievous
 * Nute Gunray
 * Qui-Gon Jinn
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Plo Koon
 * KRONOS-327
 * General Whorm Loathsom
 * Palpatine
 * R2-D2
 * R2-KT
 * R4-P17
 * Captain Rex
 * Rotta
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * TC-70
 * Wat Tambor
 * Ahsoka Tano
 * Jabba Desilijic Tiure
 * Luminara Unduli
 * Asajj Ventress
 * Mace Windu
 * Yoda
 * Wullf Yularen
 * Wurtz
 * Ziro the Hutt

Creatures

 * Bantha
 * Can-cell
 * Nuna
 * Eopie

Droid models

 * 2-1B surgical droid
 * R2-series astromech droid
 * R4-series agromech droid
 * B1 battle droid
 * B2 super battle droid
 * Droideka
 * Dwarf spider droid
 * FA-4 pilot droid
 * IG-86 assassin droid
 * IG-100 MagnaGuard
 * MSE-series
 * NR-N99 Persuader-class droid enforcer
 * Octuptarra combat tri-droid
 * OG-9 homing spider droid
 * 3PO-series protocol droid
 * RA-7 protocol droid
 * Retail droid
 * TC-series protocol droid
 * Tri-droid
 * Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droid, Mark I

Events

 * Clone Wars
 * Battle of Christophsis
 * Third Battle of Tatooine
 * Battle of Teth

Locations

 * Christophsis
 * Coruscant
 * Jedi Temple
 * Republic Executive Building
 * Geonosis
 * Naboo
 * Tatooine
 * Dune Sea
 * Jabba's Palace
 * Teth
 * B'omarr Monastery
 * Wild Space

Organizations and titles

 * Confederacy of Independent Systems
 * Dark Acolytes
 * Retail Clan
 * Techno Union
 * Trade Federation
 * Galactic Republic
 * Grand Army of the Republic
 * Clone trooper
 * 212th Attack Battalion
 * 501st Legion
 * Torrent Company
 * Clone trooper pilot
 * Jabba Desilijic Tiure's criminal empire
 * Jedi Order
 * Jedi Knight
 * Jedi Master
 * Padawan
 * Order of the Sith Lords
 * Dark Lord of the Sith

Sentient species

 * Aqualish
 * Bith
 * Gran
 * Human
 * Hutt
 * Ithorian
 * Jawa
 * Kaleesh
 * Kel Dor
 * Kerkoiden
 * Kowakian monkey-lizard
 * Nautolan
 * Nikto
 * Neimoidian
 * Rattataki
 * Quarren
 * Rodian
 * Skakoan
 * Togruta
 * Twi'lek
 * Yoda's species

Vehicles and vessels

 * Acclamator I-class assault ship
 * AT-TE
 * AT-RT
 * Armored Assault Tank
 * Bantha-II cargo skiff
 * Belbullab-22 starfighter
 * Soulless One
 * C-9979 landing craft
 * Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor
 * Anakin Skywalker's Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor
 * Flitknot speeder
 * G9 Rigger
 * Twilight
 * Heavy Missile Platform
 * Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship
 * Low Altitude Assault Transport/carrier
 * Crumb Bomber
 * Lucky Lekku
 * Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry
 * Munificent-class star frigate
 * Nu-class attack shuttle
 * Porax-38 starfighter
 * Providence-class carrier/destroyer
 * Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop
 * Republic Artillery Gun
 * Single Trooper Aerial Platform
 * Theta-class T-2c shuttle
 * TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank
 * Ubrikkian Industries Luxury sail barge
 * Khetanna
 * Unidentified octopus ship
 * V-19 Torrent starfighter
 * Venator-class Star Destroyer
 * Resolute
 * Spirit of the Republic

Weapons and technology

 * Cybernetics
 * Cyborg
 * DC-15A blaster
 * DC-15S blaster
 * E-5 blaster rifle
 * Electrostaff
 * Forward Command Center
 * Hologram
 * Imagecaster
 * Lightsaber
 * Curved-hilt lightsaber
 * Double-bladed lightsaber
 * Paired lightsabers
 * Phase I clone trooper armor
 * Shield