Not only does the project of a prequel seduce Lucas into gossiping about his own characters, but his merchandising franchise brings his universe even lower: the army of laserbolt statistics and shallow Silmarillion-esque histories that he has spawned have chanined and tempted him into lame storytelling. The entire franchise now seems to bend over backwards, ugly and vacuous, in order to provide all these salivating "fans" with satisfaction.

At least, Episode 1 does offer a few new mysteries, presenting new races, worlds and a ridiculous new rabbit-like character, Jar-Jar, but these originalities are few and flaccid compared to the rich detail of the first movies. More often, Lucas simply resorts to twisting the plot which is mandated by the originals. Anakin has to marry someone in order to be Luke's father, thus in _Episode1_ he develops a budding affection for a queen, but she's twice his age. That--and new spaceships--is Lucas' current creativity.

The original Star Wars can be viewed with a kind of willed-ignorance, so that one always feels the dynamic impact of Vader's statement "I am your father" reverberate through the preceding first and a half movies. What will be the great plot twist of this trilogy, and will one be able to appreciate its dramatic movements just as one appreciates the old films on the 50th viewing?

Probably not. Just as science fiction or horror camp does not request suspension of disbelief from the viewer, neither does this sort of prequel ask for surprise or wonder at its revelations. Instead, it tries to evoke satisfaction as it confirms rumors. The prequels have come forward somehow to prove or embody the faith of Star Wars fans, but it is a gesture that hardly satisfies anyone with taste or with a real appreciation of the originals. Lucas gives us mind- and eye-candy. Give us instead a good movie: we would know what to do with it.