The debates about Star Wars prequels are always hilarious.
The ONLY reason people think the first two suck is because of the nostalgia factore created by the first 3. They were something new and innvoative for their time. The story WAS done before (I believe Lucas just merged several popular stories/themes together). Also, most people saw these as kids. There was a HUGE "wow!" factor.
Fast forward 15 years later.. TPM wasn't anything special in terms of graphics. CGI broke boundaries in Jurassic Park 7 years prior, so nothing new in that department.
Considering the original 3 were Episodes 4, 5, and 6, it's the job of the first 3 to simply fill the story that leads up to those movies. Had 1, 2, and 3 been made FIRST, the series probably wouldn't have been as popular. TPM was about.. what? The senate/republic blah blah.. who wants to see that? Well... people clamored for years about the first 3 episodes, and now ya got em! What'd you think it was gonna be about?
Acting was just as shoddy in EP 4, 5, and 6 as it was in EP 1 & 2. Yeah, Jar Jar is a bit out of place, but the character isn't that big of a deal. Anakin in TPM was a horrible actor, but so was Mark Hamill in EP4.
You're witnessing the amazing power of hype. The prequels aren't bad movies at all... it's just that you're expecting them to utterly blow you out of the water when you already know how the story ends, on TOP of a lack of "wow!" from special effects. The MEAT of the storyline was EP 4, 5, and 6... and probably 3 considering it's the turning point of Anakin/Vader. Movies prior to that.. simply filler acts leading to the real deal.
Remember the hype surrounding the Matrix? The first one was goddamn NICE, but because people expected the sequels (which were also good movies) to totally be on par or BEAT the first, they were left disappointed.
The fact of the matter is, if you liked the first 3, you WILL see EP3. You know you will. People can ridicule George Lucas about his money vault all they want, but also realize you're helping him get there
