Celebrating Star Wars: ‘The Clone Wars’ Movie – “The Missing Element”

As we approach the end of the Skywalker saga with Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, we here at Full Circle agreed it was time to take a look back. Every day until The Rise of Skywalker‘s release, we’ll be discussing every single theatrical project in the Star Wars franchise, in canonical order. This time, we will talk about the last addition to the prequel trilogy era, Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie is the pilot for The Clone Wars TV series. This animation style is utilized over canonical material between Star Wars Episode II: Attack of The Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of The Sith. The animated film comes from Lucasfilm Animation and director Dave Filoni. It proceeds to introduce the first main female Jedi character, one Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein). Anakin is unwittingly assigned Ahsoka as a padawan. From there, the movie follows the start of their relationship, as well as their first missions together. Tatooine is a starring planet in this film, and Jabba the Hutt returns as well.

Let’s talk about the introduction of Ahsoka. She marked the first female Jedi to be a main character in a film. In terms of women in Star Wars, we’ve had Leia and Padme, but their roles are primarily tied to space politics. Known affectionately as “Snips”, Ahsoka feels very much like a female version of Anakin. She’s got much to learn, but still speaks her mind, no matter what the cost. She’s an iconic character, one who has been through many developments past this initial movie. Ahsoka forced Anakin to reckon with aspects of his own character and made him grow into the Jedi we see in Revenge of the Sith.

Ahsoka seems strictly based as a foil to Anakin in the The Clone Wars movie. However, in the television series she grows beyond that. In fact, the show is what brought her character in my eyes firmly in the positive, and it has been ever since. She’s a great character, one who represented a generation of female Star Wars fans who wanted to be Jedi, and got to see it realistically happen in front of their eyes. Eckstein does a fantabulous job with the voice, bringing Ahsoka’s emotions to light.

The rest of the cast is phenomenal. James Arnold Taylor plays a fantastic Obi-Wan Kenobi, channeling the sarcastic tones of Ewan McGregor. There’s not a distinct difference between the two. Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker is great, and he and Eckstein have great chemistry. Their banter, as well as the banter between Lanter and Arnold Taylor, are great highlights. The animation is unique. The 3D style takes some getting used to at first, but definitely grows on you.

The plot of the story involving Jabba the Hutt, Tatooine, and Anakin getting used to having another person to add in to his loop works really well for those who have watched Star Wars before. Without the investment, watching Anakin come to grips with caring for another person, as well as teaching them comes across as selfishness on his part. Knowing of Anakin’s mom’s recent demise helps you to understand that he knows he can be too involved, hence potentially breaking his Jedi vows (yet again).

The expansion on the Hutt family and their background is intriguing. With the work the other shows to do to expand upon Crime Syndicates in Star Wars, it’ll be interesting to see if they continue to expand the Hutt lore. Maybe we’ll even learn some choice Huttese along the way!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars definitely represents the very best of Star Wars. With space battles, lightsabers, politics, and more, it has a tidbit for every Star Wars fan in the galaxy near and far far away. It serves as a prominent pilot for what turned out to be an even better TV series. If you’re looking for something even more family friendly than other Star Wars films, this is for you. It’s a fun action film, that serves as a great introduction for kids. Furthermore, beyond the fantasy of Star Wars, it also brought Filoni a brighter spotlight. In turn, he takes this film and builds an animation legacy for Star Wars out of it. If anything he is the protégée George Lucas left us after he sold Lucasfilm. If nothing else we definitely should be grateful for that!

–Katie Gilstrap

Rating: 8/10

Star Wars The Clone Wars movie is available on Blu-ray, Digital HD, and Disney+.

The film stars Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, Tom Kane, Dee Bradley Baker, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, and Anthony Daniels.