'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' (PG)(out of four)

For its intended audience -- which is clearly kids -- the latest entry in filmmaker George Lucas' space opera saga, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," mostly strikes the right chords. But for purists enamored with the original films, get ready to experience a disturbance in The Force.

In fact, given some of "The Clone Wars'" 'tween sensibilities and goofy characters, diehards may feel like they're living the nightmare of Jar Jar Binks all over again.

A fully computer-generated feature film, "The Clone Wars" serves as a springboard to a new weekly series on cable's Cartoon Network this fall. Directed by Dave Filoni and featuring the voices of newcomers to the "Star Wars" saga, the film focuses on the adventures of Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor), Master Yoda (Tom Kane), Sen. Padme Amidala (Catherine Taber) and others between the live action stories of "Episode II" and "Episode III."

The purpose of the film and series is to essentially flesh out the Clone Wars backstory that Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) briefly described to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in the first "Star Wars" film, "Episode IV."

Backpedalling to a time before he took his fateful trip to the Dark Side to become Darth Vader, "The Clone Wars" finds Anakin as an ambitious young Jedi who, along with Obi-Wan, struggles to keep peace in the Republic as the Sith-driven Separatist movement grows.

In an attempt to secure trade routes on the outer-rim of the galaxy, Anakin's latest assignment is to find the kidnapped baby boy of the nefarious gangster Jabba the Hutt (Kevin Michael Richardson), a necessary evil the Jedi must be a part of in their quest for peace. But Anakin's mission will be anything but easy, as the Sith, led by Palpatine (Ian Abercrombie), Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) and his apprentice, Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman), execute a plan to make the rescue of Jabba's son backfire.

The most significant addition to the "Star Wars" saga is Anakin's padawan learner Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), a talented Jedi-in-training who has a penchant for making waves. Young and overly ambitious, Ahsoka often questions Anakin's judgment and rarely follows orders. The problem is, she can hardly be disciplined for her actions because often times, she's right.

And hence, this is where the separation between the kid audience and "Star Wars" diehards begins. In a clear attempt to make "The Clone Wars" appeal to young girls, Ahsoka is given a Disney Channel-type persona (Eckstein, by the way, is a veteran of such Disney shows as "That's So Raven," "Phil of the Future" and "The Replacements"), and her dialogue is peppered with sass. Her attitude will be funny and engaging, sure enough, for the movie's young audience, but hearing her call Anakin Skywalker "sky guy" and refer to battle droids as "stick tinnies" will no doubt make the fans faithful to the live-action films groan. (Sadly, Ahsoka isn't the only offender -- wait until you hear Jabba say the nickname of his baby.)

Now granted, the original "Star Wars" trilogy had its share of goofy name calling. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) called Han Solo (Harrison Ford) "flyboy" and Solo labeled Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) "fuzz ball," and it's clear that Filoni and Lucas (who serves as executive producer) had the same sort of lighthearted intentions here. The difference is, the humor is stepped up a few notches for the kid appeal, as even the battle droids -- even though they are robots -- amazingly take on brainless behavior usually reserved for humans.

Sometimes the characters are so over-the-top that you don't know whether to laugh with them or cry. The most glaring instance comes with Jabba's flamboyant uncle, Ziro (Corey Burton). The honcho of a Coruscant jazz club, Ziro is the Hutt version of Truman Capote fully realized, from the shape of his eyes and whimsical, whiny voice, to his distinct expressions and body language. As long as you allow yourself to laugh (the filmmakers were obviously in on the joke with this character), then your sure to find yourself laughing out loud with Ziro, rather than hating him.

One character that should unanimously resonate with kids and diehards is Asajj Ventress, a bald, blue-skinned, venomous-eyed Sith (think Angelina Jolie in this garb, but only in animated form) who wields two lightsabers. A character pulled in from Cartoon Network's traditionally animated "Clone Wars" vignettes from 2003, Ventress is a villain that easily measures up to Darth Maul (from "Episode I") and Count Dooku. With the new television series, Ventress' cult following (which began with the original TV "Clone Wars") is sure to grow.

"The Clone Wars" computer-animation is top-notch, which shouldn't come as a big surprise in that much of the spectacular battles and vistas in Lucas' prequel trilogy were done the same way. And while the film's human characters appear wooden and stilted at times (the design is similar to the animated style of the first "Clone Wars"), the voice work is convincing enough to allow you to settle in and eventually enjoy the action.

Lanter and Kane's voices are slightly different than Hayden Christensen's and Frank Oz's interpretations of Anakin and Yoda, respectively; but Taber and particularly Taylor's voice work are strikingly similar to Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor.

While there are several familiar narrative references, and visual and character elements familiar to the previous films (in addition to Lee, returning cast members include Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of Jedi master Mace Windu and Anthony Daniels as the trusty droid C-3PO), there's no question that "The Clone Wars" is meant to be a departure from the "Star Wars" universe we've come to know and love since 1977.

It's pretty evident from the beginning that the film is made for a new generation, as the blast of opening music is a variation on John Williams' classic theme, and the scrolling narrative is replaced with a series of clips and radio-serial stylized narration. All told, "The Clone Wars" is by no means epic like the previous films, but if you can accept it for what it is, you'll still likely be amused by it.

After all, who'd of thought there would be any more "Star Wars" after "Episode III" in 2005? With a project like this to keep him occupied, perhaps Lucas' creative "forces" will drive him to explore galaxies far, far away, past "Episode VI." Maybe that's wishful thinking, but as Lucas has proved before, the galaxy has no limitations.