The OG movies weren’t exactly the best written things either, with the dialogue in particular being hocky and the pacing only being saved by the intervention of Lucas’s wife doing a fantastic edit.
The story was interesting in terms of its major elements, and the visual effects at the time were incredible (Lucas has an incredible eye for detail when it comes to set design).
But overall the writing in the OG trilogy is very stilted. This problem is worse in the prequels, as Lucas is really not that great of a director. Fantastic producer, designer, and effects artist, with an eye for engaging set peices, but a piss poor director. Remember, the most fondly remembered OG movie was the one he had the least director control over.
The prequels are a hodgepodge of set peices, stiled and hammy dialogue, and some of the worst flow issues of any modern scifi series. But, they did have a lot of heart, and the hamminess is endearing. To say the prequels only issues were poor execution is a little misleading, as it implies only a few things were wrong. Most of its attempted executions were broken, from the writing to the flow of the story. It was a great series of setpeices that ultimately punctuated a poorly paced paper-boat-plot that pushed the characters along with very little care. The main cast are not agents of motion in the story, which is one of the worst sins a writer can do to his creations.
They have no agency, they have no direction, and they have very little impact. The story happens to them not because of them.
