Things best left unseen

Rating: 3/10 (10 August 2010)

The original trilogy was the attempt to give us the backstory of how Darth Vader became Darth Vader, but at the end of the day, you kind of don't care.
So you have this convoluted plot where Darth Sideous/Senator Palpatine/the future Emperor is attempting to manipulate a trade dispute so he can become Chancellor. The Jedis are involved, somehow, as guardians of peace, but they don't actually do anything and apparently this Republic exists without any kind of real military force to enforce their will, so planets can go to war with each other and there isn't squat anyone can do about it, really.
Okay, here's the problem. Who cares? The plot seems to be a series of excuses to hang special effects sequences on. In many ways, Star Wars has been hoist on its own petard. The damage it did was that it put special effects above writing and character development, merchandising above storytelling, but now everyone is doing that, so what's all that special?
Oh, yeah, and Jar-Jar Binks.
A problem I think is that everyone bemoans the fall of the REpublic, but no one seems to care one way or the other. One side uses mindless drones and the other side uses mindless clones... so who honestly cares?