An Animated Force

Cast: Matthew Wood, Anthony Daniels

Showing at: E-Square, INOX

Expectations were set so low by George Lucas8217;s lousy trilogy of Star Wars prequels that the latest from the Lucas film factory, a feature-length digital animation called Star Wars: The Clone Wars, comes as something of a surprise: it isn8217;t the most painful movie of the year.

As a mechanical thrill ride, however, The Clone Wars has an uncluttered look and furious pace that make it more or less as satisfying as its wildly over-designed predecessors, although it8217;s neither as agile nor as well made as the terrific series of short, animated Clone Wars installments shown on the Cartoon Network from 2003 to 2005.

The director, Dave Filoni, has cited Thunderbirds, the 1960s British animation series with marionettes, as an inspiration for the, uh, wooden style of his picture, but the stiff, self-important characterisations; corny space-war talk; and overheated militarism kept reminding me of Team America: World Police.