Having brought the space opera saga full circle with the last of the three prequels, Star Wars creator George Lucas has been filling in the narrative gaps with animated television shows and computer games.

Star rating: **
Dir: Dave Filoni
With: Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, Samuel Jackson, Anthony Daniels, Christopher Lee

Having brought the space opera saga full circle with the last of the three prequels, Star Wars creator George Lucas has been filling in the narrative gaps with animated television shows and computer games. This feature-length CG animation was originally conceived as the pilot to a new television show (due to hit UK screens sometime next year), but it's been reconfigured for a cinema release, reportedly on the orders of a very impressed Lucas.

Set between the events of episodes II and III, The Clone Wars concerns the ongoing conflict between the legions of separatist droids controlled by the emerging evil empire and the clone hoards of the Republic lead by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker and their fellow Jedi Knights. Following the obligatory - and over-long - opening battle between clones and droids, the film settles into a relatively minor sub-plot in which Anakin and his new padawan (or apprentice) Ahsoka Tano set off on a mission to rescue the son of space gangster Jabba the Hut, in the hope that the big slug will become an ally of the increasing beleaguered Republic.

Designed with a younger, pre-teen audience in mind than the films were made for, The Clone Wars rattles along from one set piece to another, feeling - and looking, with its digitised characters - very much like a computer game. That said, the banter between animated Anakin (voiced by newcomer Matt Lanter) and his lippy student is no less wooden than the interaction between Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor in the live-action films. Whether or not we need yet more Star Wars mythos expansion is a moot point: those that found the last three films utterly tedious aren't likely to find much of interest here, while those who lap up anything and everything set in a galaxy far, far away will be delighted.