REVIEW: Star Wars: The Clone Wars — PG

The story
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" is computer animated. It takes place between Episodes II and III ("Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith") in the live action films. Young Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker (voice of Matt Lanter) and his master Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) fight for the Republic against the Separatists. Evil Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) leads the Separatists. It's a lawless time, the narrator says. Outlaws have kidnapped Jabba the Hut's (Kevin Michael Richardson) young son. The Republic needs Jabba's help, so Yoda (Tom Kane) and Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) dispatch Anakin, Kenobi and Padawan Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) to rescue Rotta the Huttlet (David Acord) and reunite him with his father.
Who's behind the kidnap plot? Will Anakin and Ahsoka learn to work together? Can they keep sickly Rotta the Huttlet alive? Last question: If you're older than 9, why would you see this dumb movie?
Actors
Actors providing voices for "The Clone Wars" may well be competent. Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Daniels certainly are. For the rest - including Nika Futterman and Catherine Taber as dangerous Asaji Ventress and plucky Padme Amidala - grant them the benefit of the doubt. We can't tell because scriptwriters Henry Gilroy, Steve Melching and Scott Murphy don't give actors much to work with. "C'mon, men!" says Anakin. "Everything is going as planned," says Count Dooku. "A test is this for Anakin," says Yoda. "A test is this for actors," he should have said.
Characterization is minimal. "I'm the one with enthusiasm," says Ahsoka to Anakin. "You're the one with experience." Anakin is arrogant and reckless. Ahsoka is brainy and reckless. Dooku is nasty. Jabba can't be trusted. Clones are witless and make bad jokes. That's about it for characterization.
Other comments
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" will be of interest if you're 9. For the rest of us, it's a yawn. The computer animation disappoints. Human characters don't move naturally. CGI artists have permanently glued every strand of hair. Facial expressions are only slightly better than Saturday morning TV. Some vistas - the desert scenes, for example - are pretty and the assault up the castle walls to rescue Rotta offers some pleasures. Otherwise, I fought to stay awake.
"Star Wars" fans will learn more about the Hut family. Jabba has an uncle named Ziro (Corey Burton). He's a southerner who sounds like Blanche from "Streetcar Named Desire." There's a Mrs. Jabba the Hut and a Huttlet. You don't want to think any more about that. Thankfully, the movie's only 98 minutes. PG for sci-fi violence, brief language and smoking.
Final words
A "Star Wars" chapter,
It's computer drawn,
Some "Clone Wars" action,
But mostly, a yawn.