I went in with very moderate expectations and I wasn't disappointed at the end. I knew that the animation wasn't going to be up to par for the big screen, but it wasn't like trying to watch a 480i signal on a 1080i HDTV. I expected the dialogue to be geared so that younger kids could follow it, but it wasn't so dummied down that I felt I was being talked down to. I also expected the plot to be something that could be wrapped up in three to four episodes of the TV show and it was. So, I actually enjoyed my Friday night when I saw it.
The animation was a bit hard to get used to in the beginning, but it was acceptable after about 20 minutes. I liked seeing some of the aliens/characters in cartoon form (IG Droids, Rodians, Jawas). I thought that the Battle Droid dialogue was great, especially when Anakin and crew started their assault on the monastery. Lastly, although it was only a small bit of dialogue, I liked how some of the original cast members lent their voices to the characters (Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee most of all). Oh, and I didn't mind Ziro... There's got to be one backstabbing weasel in every family, right?!
Now I will say this, the nicknames need to end, immediately. If there's one thing that's pretty evident from the movies is that there is a level of respect that is expected to be shown toward your Jedi Knight/Master when you are a Padawan. That is lacking big time and needs to be corrected. The self proclaimed greatest of all the Jedi would demand that from any of his padawans... This isn't Han calling Luke 'kid', this is a Jedi Knight and his 'young apprentice'...
Also, we need some more tough bad guys. Dooku and Ventress were really good in the movie, but that was about it. You can't fill in every episode with a 'send in the clowns' routine around the Battle Droids. Bring on Durge, Grievous and the rest of the Separatist scum bags. This is war, not slapstick.
Anyway, I think this would have been better as a two hour world premiere on TNT this Fall, but I didn't think it was terrible being released how it was. And besides, this will give me something else to put on my Christmas list as a stocking stuffer when LFL decides to release it in 6+ different versions (full screen, wide screen, blu-ray, WM exclusive, Target Exclusive, TRU Exclusive, etc.)...