Five Times the ‘Star Wars: Clone Wars’ Movie Was a Mistake

The last Star Wars movie made under Lucas may also be his worst.

Star Wars is a great franchise. Lately, we’ve taken a good, hard look at some of the things the Sequel trilogy got wrong, some things it got right, and some things it just kind of… did.

We’ve also been taking a look at some of the things Star Wars Prequel movies have gotten right, and a few things they’ve gotten wrong here or there. We’ve looked at Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, Attack of the Clones, and more. Some silly git even had the temerity to pan The Phantom Menace.

We also looked at Rogue One. Now let’s see why Lucas’ last Star Wars movie might also be his worst, though it had a happy ending.

5. The Animation 

It’s not that the animation for this movie is bad. In fact, for the time it was pretty good, though it would later be surpassed by the series. It’s more the style of the animation. At the time, it was a jarring change. It wasn’t really like anything we had seen before, especially not in Star Wars. Given that a show about the Clone Wars already existed, and was well loved, moving to a VERY different style of  animation made a lot of people unhappy.

4. The Hutts

This movie has a lot of Hutt’s in it, as it centers around them. Rotta the baby Hutt. Jabba. Ziro. They are all bad. I don’t like any of them, for various reasons. You will never make a Hutt cute.

3. An Odd Plot

For a movie about the Clone Wars, it has kind of an odd plot. It centers around the kidnaping of Jabba’s child and how that could lead the Hutts to join the Separatists. For a movie though, it all feels kind of low-stakes. It’s mostly them chasing down a baby and trying to get it home. It shies a way from the main conflict of the era and doesn’t really tell a big, grand story. It could have worked well as an episode, or a two parter, in the show, but was an odd choice for a movie.

2. It Nearly Killed the Show

This was not a well-loved movie. At the time, it was generally panned. It was both too childish and too adult at the same time. The bad review and a negative fan reaction, turned a lot of people off to the Clone Wars show before it even came out. Rather than getting people excited and hyped for a show, it lead many to refuse to give the show a chance. This had a real negative effect on the show as a show in its first season and likely put it in some danger. Luckily the show was able to pull things together.

1. Ashoka

Ahsoka Tano is one of the most popular and important characters in Star Wars. She has entertained and inspired millions. Yet when she was first introduced in the Clone Wars movie, she feel flat. To many she was childish, bratty and just annoying.  She didn’t work and people hated her. Luckily they were able to turn her around in the series. It’s even possible that her bad showing in the movie, and later redemption as a character, made her more relatable. New people are as fervent fans as converts.

Let us know some things you didn’t like about this movie, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.