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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 14, 2008

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS **½

While anything remotely "Star Wars" potentially is a welcome trek for hard-core fans, this will be a mixed thrill given that the saga returns to the big screen as a cartoon.

George Lucas' prequel trilogy was so overloaded with computer-generated imagery that the digital animation of "Clone Wars" isn't much of a leap. Still, a "Star Wars" movie should be an event. But whether because of its cartoony format or its relatively lightweight story, "Clone Wars" definitely is not an event.

For fans, it serves as a fairly promising introduction to the "Clone Wars" animated series debuting on Cartoon Network this fall. The movie centers on a fresh adventure of Anakin and his Jedi knight elder Obi-Wan Kenobi during the Clone Wars that have been so pivotal to "Star Wars" since the beginning - but about which we've heard so little.

"Clone Wars" adapts a story director Dave Filoni (also the supervising director of the TV show) and company had been developing for the small screen.

Anakin (voiced by Matt Lanter) and Obi-Wan (James Arnold Taylor) start off in the heat of battle, leading Republic's clone soldiers against the comically inept android troops of a separatist movement led by the Count Dooku (Christopher Lee).

While the movie has a huge body count as light sabers flash, "Clone Wars" comes off as rather cute overall.

PG (action violence, brief profanity and smoking); 98 minutes.

FLY ME TO THE MOON **

A well-intentioned exercise at blending education and family entertainment, the 3-D animated tale "Fly Me to the Moon" ends up only mildly educational and not all that entertaining.

This story of three flies that tag along with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on Apollo 11 is reminiscent of the moment in "Apollo 13" when the TV networks decide against airing a live feed from the astronauts.

The reason? NASA had made space travel so routine, at least up till that moment on the ill-fated flight, that it became boring.

Likewise, despite its unusual story line, "Fly Me to the Moon" is routine and on the cusp of boring for audiences accustomed to such meatier animated flicks as "WALL-E" and "Kung Fu Panda."

Director Ben Stassen, whose company nWave has pioneered 3-D films for large-screen IMAX cinemas, has crafted a technically proficient cartoon whose decent visuals are held to Earth by cute but dull characters, bland action and uninspired dialogue.

This film ultimately is as harmless as a fly - and not much more interesting.

G; 89 minutes

David Germain,

The Associated Press

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