Emm..i'm actually holding back about my overall verdict on the prequels until Episode III. I admit feeling glum after Ep.I, but what were we all expecting? It's the time of the Old-Republic, so no Star Destroyers, no Imperial Stormtroopers or Officers, and no TIE fighters. I think George was trying to focus Ep.I on the opening lines of the original Star Wars book, where he talks about the corruption of the republic's senate and the manipulation of Palpatine. As far as the latter is concerned he has succeeded brilliantly as the tale unfolds. In Ep.II, Palpatine is engineering a rebellion against the disintergrating republic he is the head of just so he has an excuse to create his army of clones/Stormtroopers. Despite all the 'I'm a frustrated teenager,' Anakin bits in Ep.II, the plot is working superbly. When I left the movie theater after Ep.II I was having a rush; the final scene in Ep.II involves just what Palpatine, the Emperor, had designed and engineered, the creation of his legions of Stormtroopers and the first hints of his Navy, that look a decade or two away from a Star Destroyer. He's looking on all chuffed from the balcony; but look at poor old hippy Bail Antilles, he looks on, and then away in despair; perhaps he's just figured out what's gone on.... and then they played Imperial March.... I left the movie buzzing!