ImperialFighter said:

I would never have guessed that the saga would end up beginning so slowly with a focus on 'taxation routes' and 'politics'!

That's one of my biggest problems with the prequels (besides Jar Jar, random silliness and some annoying sound design): convoluted storytelling and boring dialogue. I still barely understand all that Trade Federation stuff, etc... The sad thing is I don't care to understand, either. I left the theater confused and sort of thinking "...what just happened?" after seeing TPM.