I forget who said it, but it was well-said...

The original Star Wars trilogy all succeed as movies, and as Star Wars films (ROTJ maybe a little less so, maybe a little more so depending on personal taste).

Episode I- not so good as a Star Wars movie consistent with the previous ones, but succeeds as a film.

Episode II- Complete and utter ****

Episode III- Had some good cinematography and some good sequences, but again, fails as a film.

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There isn't just one problem with the prequels, IMO...there are many:

-*Awful, shallow, inconsistent, stilted scripts (this is the big one)

-No visual consistency with OT- CGI gone wild

-Inferior music and bad mixing

-Inferior acting- bad casting (Hayden in particular)

-It was just missing inspiration, an element of fun. It was going through the motions. Passionless. Needed a different director than George Lucas.