10 Reasons You’re Wrong About The Star Wars Prequels

10. They Had Some Fascinating Ideas (Even If The Execution Wasn't Always There)

The best thing about the prequels were the ideas on display. The problem was that the execution was all too often found wanting.

At the core of the Prequel Trilogy lies two fascinating questions: how did Anakin Skywalker - the best of the Jedi Order - succumb to the Dark Side of the Force? And how was the Emperor able to destroy the Jedi and Republic and build an Empire in their ruins? No one can argue that those aren't fascinating topics to address, or that while the prequels fumble in their attempts to answer those questions, the simple act of seeing them conveyed on screen is inherently compelling.

Arguably the most interesting aspect of the prequels however was the way in which George Lucas depicted the Jedi Order. Rather than conform to the vision relayed to Luke Skywalker by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars, Lucas showed a version of the order long past its prime, absorbed by politics and a kind of zealotry that would, ironically, prove to be its undoing.

Yes, they were war heroes - like Obi-Wan said - but that was precisely why they failed to defeat the Emperor. There's an element of poeticism there that is all too often overlooked, and one made all the better by the timely way in which Lucas handled Palpatine's rise to power.