Star Wars - Clone Wars

Bright colours, action, and the sound of lightsabers. Oh lightsabers. An element very specific to only one saga of films: Star Wars.

Not having "episode" in the title, Star Wars: The Clone Wars leaves one pondering its existence. Heck, even I didn't know it existed until I saw it. The hype and PR around this film certainly doesn't match up to the live action films, but being the first-ever animated feature by Lucasfilm Animation, The Clone Wars turned out pretty well.

Trying not to compare the graphics to any of the Final Fantasy films (which greatly surpass it), I felt that Lucasfilm Animation did a decent job depicting the characters that we all know as real people on screen. Some of the voice-overs (but not all) are from the original actors themselves, which helps pull us in and not think of it as a silly knock-off. However, I didn't find this film as entertaining as I had hoped.

For those of you not aware of this film, I'll tell you now that it is all new and it is in no way an animated version of a previous film. The Clone Wars fills the space between Episodes II and III of the Star Wars saga and brings you more details into the battle between the Jedi and their efforts to restore peace in an uneasy galaxy.

Anakin Skywalker continues to battle Count Dooku, but the Count and his evil ally Asajj Ventressis are not easily overcome. For Anakin, a new Padawan learner by the name of Ahsoka Tano is just the help he needs as they work together in an effort to gain the alliance of Jabba the Hutt.

To see more info on this film (coming to theaters August 15th) as well as the trailer, check out www.starwars.com/clonewars.