Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

58 (Untitled)
96 35 Shots of Rum
56 Adam
39 Adventures of Power
66 Afterschool
73 Amreeka
49 Antichrist
76 Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86 Beaches of Agnes, The
71 Big Fan
65 Black Dynamite
76 Bliss
26 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81 Bright Star
76 Broken Embraces
70 Bronson
62 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
69 Cold Souls
60 Collapse
82 Cove, The
75 Crude
82 Damned United, The
53 Dare
50 Defamation
67 Departures
70 Earth Days
85 Education, An
55 Endgame
88 Fantastic Mr. Fox
31 Fix
49 Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80 Food, Inc.
xx From Mexico with Love
28 Gentlemen Broncos
72 Good Hair
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Horse Boy, The
74 House of the Devil, The
xx How to Seduce Difficult Women
26 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70 It Might Get Loud
46 Killing Kasztner
43 Little Traitor, The
34 Looking for Palladin
80 Lorna's Silence
46 Love Hurts
84 Maid, The
45 Mammoth
75 Messenger, The
55 Missing Person, The
59 More Than a Game
34 Motherhood
62 My One and Only
48 New York, I Love You
66 No Impact Man
26 Oh My God
68 Paranormal Activity
68 Paris
79 Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73 Red Cliff
69 September Issue, The
79 Serious Man, A
65 Skin
41 Splinterheads
42 Staten Island
50 Stoning of Soraya M., The
58 Storm
82 Sun, The
49 Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73 That Evening Sun
61 Trucker
49 Turning Green
83 U2 3D
45 Uncertainty
67 Visual Acoustics
32 War on Kids
67 Way We Get By, The
65 Wedding Song, The
xx White on Rice
59 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74 Woman in Berlin, A
43 Women in Trouble
69 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

EMAILPRINTWarner Bros. Pictures

Star Wars: The Clone Wars reviews
35
5.0 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 109 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Action  |  Adventure  |  Animation  |  Sci-fi

Written by: George Lucas (story)
Steven Melching
Scott Murphy
Henry Gilroy

Directed by: Dave Filoni

Release Date:
Theatrical: August 15, 2008
DVD: November 11, 2008

Running Time: 98 minutes, Color

Origin: USA | Singapore

Summary

RATING: PG for sci-fi action violence throughout, brief language and momentary smoking

Starring Matt Lanter, Ian Abercrombie, Anthony Daniels, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Kane, Matthew Wood, James Arnold Taylor, and Christopher Lee

Star Wars takes on a dazzling new look in the first-ever animated feature from Lucasfilm Animation - Star Wars: The Clone Wars. As the Clone Wars sweep through the galaxy, the heroic Jedi Knights struggle to maintain order and restore peace. More and more systems are falling prey to the forces of the dark side as the Galactic Republic slips further and further under the sway of the Separatists and their never-ending droid army. Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano find themselves on a mission with far-reaching consequences, one that brings them face-to-face with crime lord Jabba the Hutt. But Count Dooku and his sinister agents, including the nefarious Asajj Ventress, will stop at nothing to ensure that Anakin and Ahsoka fail at their quest. Meanwhile, on the front lines of the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda lead the massive clone army in a valiant effort to resist the forces of the dark side ... (Warner Bros.)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

67

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

It's not exactly thrilling, and it doesn't cover much new ground. But young audiences will lap it up like ice cream.

Read Full Review >
60

Empire James Dyer

An enjoyable escapade and a great introduction to the forthcoming series - just not the seventh Star Wars film fans were hoping for.

Read Full Review >
58

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

With its simple-goal-driven plot, its wordy, cutscene-like interludes, and its stiffly modeled characters, it wouldn't even make for a particularly high-end videogame.

Read Full Review >
50

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

When George Lucas last pulled off an original idea for a feature film, Bill Clinton was still thought of by many voters as overweight and chaste.

Read Full Review >
50

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

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.

Read Full Review >
50

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

The largely uninspired Clone Wars feels landlocked. In the absence of any extensive innovation, the video game-ready results play more like a feature-length promo for the imminent TV series of the same name than a stand-alone event.

Read Full Review >
50

Variety Todd McCarthy

This isn't the Star Wars we've always known and at least sometimes loved.

Read Full Review >
50

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Looks fantastic, but the film suffers from the TV-to-feature transition.

Read Full Review >
50

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Gets more cluttered and confused as it moves along.

Read Full Review >
50

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The Clone Wars is the last nail in a coffin that has been propped up ever since George Lucas sold his creative soul in the quest for a few more pieces of gold.

Read Full Review >
50

Boston Globe Tom Russo

Once again, even reasonably committed fans will need a scorecard to keep track of who's fighting whom. What's the real target audience - i.e. kids - supposed to make of it all?

Read Full Review >
50

New York Post Linda Stasi

Lucas' films are like Cher's face. No matter how many times you rework the same material, it's never going to be new and fresh again. And so it is with his latest, Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Read Full Review >
50

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Essentially an extended trailer for the 2008 Cartoon Network animated series.

Read Full Review >
50

The New York Times Nathan Lee

As a mechanical thrill ride, The Clone Wars has an uncluttered look and furious pace that make it more or less as satisfying as its wildly overdesigned predecessors.

Read Full Review >
42

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

It might be impressive as a made-for-DVD production, but coming from producer George Lucas, it makes for a cheap excuse for a big-screen spectacle.

Read Full Review >
42

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Unlike its predecessors, this one doesn't even try to aspire to myth. It aspires only to merchandising.

Read Full Review >
40

LA Weekly Robert Wilonsky

The Clone Wars is minor to the point of irrelevance, nothing more than a stylized direct-to-DVD shrug projected onto a big screen while Lucas launches two more TV series filling in prequel blanks better left empty.

Read Full Review >
40

Los Angeles Times Michael Ordona

Despite some absolutely gorgeous animation and adjusting expectations for what Clone Wars is meant to be, the Force is not strong with this one.

Read Full Review >
38

USA Today Claudia Puig

Don't expect the seventh Star Wars film here. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is more like a long Saturday morning cartoon.

Read Full Review >
38

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Basically just a 98-minute trailer for the autumn launch of a new series on the Cartoon Network.

Read Full Review >
38

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason Anderson

While the movie and the accompanying series are being pitched to a younger audience than most new Star Wars ventures, parents may be perturbed by the film's relentless violence.

Read Full Review >
33

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The animated characters in "Clone Wars" are about as lively as the actors in the live-action movies, so I guess Lucas has achieved his goal of eliminating humans from his movies altogether.

Read Full Review >
30

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

The whole thing feels like a continuation of Lucas' experiments to see how much sh-- his dwindling supporters will take before finally saying "enough" and moving on to adult pursuits.

Read Full Review >
30

Wall Street Journal Joanne Kaufman

Clone Wars will appeal only to the most tolerant, galactically minded children and their parents.

Read Full Review >
30

Washington Post Hank Stuever

Unfolds with all the entertainment value of watching somebody else play a video game.

Read Full Review >
25

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

At what point might animators be arrested for doing work so ugly it causes aesthetic blindness in millions of younglings?

Read Full Review >
20

Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt

Story is entirely insignificant in The Clone Wars.

Read Full Review >
20

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Without the grandiose narrative structure of the six live-action releases, this feels even more pointless, a mechanical attempt to milk the kids for every last dime.

Read Full Review >
20

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

The latest indignity.

Read Full Review >
0

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

George Lucas is turning into the enemy of fun.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 5.0 (out of 10) based on 109 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jacob L. gave it a6:
Star Wars the Clone Wars is not as bad as some people say it is. While I will admit that for the opening battle there is a lot of corny dialogue but after a while it sort of dissapears. While it didn't feel like Star Wars and Hadyen Christian didn't reprise his roll as Anikan. The action and adventure was enough to make it worth my while.

Teli gave it a9:
I disagree with all the haters. This movie was a lot of fun and I'm personally looking forward to the entire series. An excellent addition to the Star Wars franchise.

Jon K gave it a0:
This movie is so awful I found it offensive to watch. George Lucas has truly lost his mind. I have been a huge star wars fan since I was a little boy in the early 80s. I won't even waste time elaborating on all the plot holes and inconsistencies that help make this movie completely ridiculous. Not to mention it is more of the same dull, uninspired, star wars dribble we have come to expect and become desensitized to since the Phantom Menace took a huge smelly dump on the Star Wars Universe several years ago. There is dialogue at the beginning of the movie which I believe sums up my thoughts on the movie and mirrors a conversation George Lucas might have had with the director: Anakin:"But that doesn't make any sense-" Obi Wan:"We'll sort that out later!"

Tony L gave it a4:
The most frustrating thing about this movie is that with all the possible Star Wars stories to choose from Lucas chooses to beat this dead horse. CN did Clone Wars already. Give us something NEW!

Jay H. gave it a3:
I did not find much of this movie interesting at all and frequently found myself bored. The animation was unimpressive, as are the voice overs. Ho hum.

Coal B. gave it a0:
I am a religious star wars fan and this film is blasphemy. I can't believe Lucas let this happen. Star Wars is not fucking funny, it's not a f*cking comedy, this is serious shit and I piss on this movie.

Eric P gave it a4:
I really wanted to try and like this movie, but it just wasn't that good. The script got a little silly at times with the forced puns, idiotic dialogue, terrible rants and obvious errors (Anakin is not a Master, for starters) which took away from the movie. The fight scenes, while few and far between, were not bad. I actually didn't have a problem with the animation style. It would have been nice to have more of the actors from the movies reprise their roles, but the fill-ins did an ok job. Overall, the movie just felt like a 90 minute trailer for the series due out this fall. It probably isn't worth your money, unless you're a hard-core Star Wars fan, or all the other movies left are chick flicks or terrible comedies.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use