Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Before you give me a hard time for making a rich man even richer by paying to see the leftover table scraps from George Lucas' blandly satisfying Star Wars banquet, I did so for the three oldest boys of a close friend who is currently serving in Iraq. If I could have gone to Baghdad in his stead for 90 minutes, that would have been preferable.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars takes place between Episodes II and III, though why it involves any of the principle characters of the saga is beyond me. It serves absolutely no purpose in expounding on the story of Anakin Skywalker and his fall from grace. Instead, it serves only as an outlet for another side story in Lucas' absurdly byzantine explanation of Emperor Palpatine's political rise to power. Yawn.
There was one surreally entertaining series of scenes when Senator Amidala seeks out Jabba the Hut's uncle, Ziro, at his cabaret, to help clear up a misunderstanding between Jabba and the Jedi. Picture Truman Capote as a Hut drag queen. The stereotype makes Jar Jar Binks pale in comparison (pun intended).
The whole picture stands alone as a symbol of everything Lucas' once-devoted fan base now hates him for. Next up: Another retooling of the original saga, this time converting it to 3-D. What's left after this? Smell-o-vision?