George Lucas’ seemingly endless franchise based on his “Star Wars” saga, now includes "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," an uninspired animated offering that takes place somewhere in between the events of “Episode II: Attack of the Clones” and “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.”

Director Dave Filoni presents a weakly rendered and visually stale hodge-podge, more on par with a made-for-television cartoon than the big screen.

Writers Henry Gilroy, Steven Melching and Scott Murphy deliver a sluggish plotline with achingly banal dialogue, accentuated at times by vague attempts at humor and forced “cuteness.”

The disjointed and somewhat confusing plot revolves around the rescue of Jabba the Hutts’ infant child who has been abducted. As the Republic continues to be embroiled in battle with the Separatists, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda hatch a plan in an effort to please Jabba and perhaps secure him as an ally against Count Dooku.

Soon Anakin Skywalker and his unwanted, but eager Padawan student, Ahsoka Tano, are enlisted for the job of rescuing the baby Hutt, but once they have recovered the child they then must face a number of obstacles before returning him safely home.

While the characters are made to look like their human counterparts from the past “Star Wars” films only Christopher Lee and Samuel L. Jackson add their distinctive voices to an otherwise uncharismatic line-up of voice-over performances.

The PG-rating (predominantly earned for the violence in the battle scenes) may discourage especially young viewers and their parents from making this a first-choice at the box office. Perhaps the low production values and lackluster casting were intentional as a money-saving effort as it appears this film was made specifically for a younger teen audience. It certainly won’t provide the authenticity or attention to character consistency that hard-core fans will naturally expect.

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(One and a half stars out of four.)