Furthermore the fact that Anakin is more fleshed out as a character in the novels and comics as well as the 2 different clone wars animated series proves Lucas is a hack who cannot write.

Also the characters follow very little logic for what motivates them or compels them to comiit the actions they do in the prequel films.

It is the writing and characters where the films come apart and are hollow. The visuals hold up, even if there is a bit of over reliance on cgi.

It is really a shame because someone could have come in and added all these things to the scripts in rewrites of Lucas skeleton plot, that followed and weaved a tale consistent withe the original trilogy from 1977-1983.

I would not be surprised to hear that Lucas asked Kasden and he was turned down, but it is probably more likely he wanted to control all aspects of the films creation and thought he could slide on by with nothing but visuals and people would overlook the lack of story because of the great visual quality.

It fits with his idea of cinema verite and non story content in films, a purely visual film that tells the story in visuals and carries it along with music and sound effects.