Jar Jar Stinks

George Lucas completely sucked the mystique out of the Jedi when he decided that they are genetically predisposed to being in tune with the force.  This was the moment Star Wars became Star Trek.  I love both, but Star Wars has always been about myth and legend, whereas Star Trek retains an air of philosophy and theoretical science.  They are different subgenres when looked at under a high powered tricorer.

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was a complete debacle and nearly unwatchble.  Episodes I,II & III have no where near the gravitas of the original movies.  What went wrong?  It seems that the consensus is that George Lucas has fallen asleep on his stack of fluffy, cushy cash.  I suppose when you already have a billion dollars in your back pocket, you're not as hungry.  These movies were a tremendous boon to the Lucas bank account after his finances were cut down after a messy divorce.  

It was the perfect opportunity for Lucas to introduce new themes, and create new characters to be enamored with.  Instead we got more death star conspiracy, and Jar Jar Binks.