[pjalne]

The whole "Episodes I and II were weak because they were setting up the big story that really matters" argument is horseshit. To begin with, it's not a good excuse. You don't sacrifice two movies so you can gather up enough gunpowder to make the last one count. You make the other ones matter. You figure "By the end of this movie, this is what I want to have told a story about and this is how I will make it worthwhile."

Also, the first one didn't set up jack shit except introducing the main characters to each other and show that Darth Vader once was really good at playing racing games. The rest was two guys walking around in the sand trying to fix their ship and a bunch of frog creatures (never heard from before or since) fighting LEGO robots. I suppose the political basis for the wholse series was explained, but can you honestly say you walked out understanding exactly how the trade federation related to the senate, the republic somethingorother, the Naboo government, the tax guys or the four hundred other groups that are mentioned without being tied in with anything else? That's not exposition, that's confusing and boring your audience.

I don't get all steamed up about the prequels, I actually had a good time watching the second one. But I'm sick of hearing people saying that having two thirds of your story being a disjointed mess is okay because you get to see Vader in his suit for ten minutes at the end of it all. That's just not how a good storyteller works.