5. Space Politics
Something George Lucas really dropped the ball on with his prequel trilogy is the plot; outside of Anakin's well-telegraphed arc, the focus on the mind-numbing minutiae of space politics is a dreadful decision for a series that wants to, with its soul-destroying comic side-kicks, aim itself squarely at children (and their parents' pockets). What the film is over-encumbered with is dull, verbose dialogues about absurd trade negotiations we couldn't be paid to care about, and the various cog-turnings that keep things going in space. The innumerable galactic senate hearings are always the parts we fast-forward through when watching the new trilogy again - or at least attempting to - and frankly, they often feel like deleted scenes, given how little import and impact they have on the narrative. Ask someone to recall one of these dialogues, of which there are many - I bet they can't. It is Lucas coasting on the fact that people love his Universe so much that they won't be bored by even the most banal dialogues known to man. He was wrong.