I am a lifelong Star Wars fan.
I saw the first Star Wars when I was six years old. When I was 10, I spent an ungodly amount of time watching the Special Editions in theatres.
My favorite video games are X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.
And I've invested hundreds of hours playing the Knights of the Old Republic RPGs on the X-Box.
However, I am not a fan of the prequels. Though unlike a friend of mine, I don't hate them for cinematic reasons. I don't hate the actors, hell, I don't hate Jar Jar Binks. What I do hate, is the fact that George Lucas has forgotten why Star Wars is so popular in the first place.
Okay, so yes some of the enduring popularity can be traced to the fantastic battle scenes and the strong amount of action that can be found in the three original films.
But. (And there's always a but.)
I've always felt that the reason why Star Wars is so popular is because at it's heart, it is not science fiction. At it's heart, Star Wars is a story about people, a story about love, hate and redemption. You could divorce Star Wars from much of it's "futuristic" background and still maintain the basic essence of the movies.
With that being said, the prequels should have been amazing. The rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker should surpassed the original movies. But it hasn't, and it won't. And I think this is because George Lucas doesn't understand what brings people to such hate and evil.
I think that Lucas is trying too hard to find ways to make Anakin Skywalker evil. Now, I will give Lucas some credit, he seems to have done a little bit better in Revenge of the Sith, but that doesn't change the fact that the Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones could have been perfect vehicles to depict Anakin's fall into the dark side.
In my perfect world, the main theme of the prequels would have been "good intentions." As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and as such, the road to Anakin's downfall will have been filled with good intentions. I've always felt that the prequels would have a more powerful story if they had shown that Anakin was much like Luke in that he was young, idealistic and talented. But in his quest to do good, in his quest to save those he loved, he became convinced that the ends justify the means. And once convinced of this, nothing could stop him. Not his wife, not Obi-Wan, no one.
I think that if the prequels have focused on this, the movies would have turned out much better, and would have retained the familiar themes of the first series, and frankly, a chain of events that is familiar to the human race in general. I think Lucas is trying to hard to illustrate something that is really quite simple.
And I'm done with my daily dose of geekage.