I watched Attack of the Clones 3x in the theater because it gave the feelings of Star Wars regardless of how dumb it was.

The prequels weren't good, but they weren't emenating the smug aura of contempt for the fans that grew up with it like the sequels did.

Instead the prequels showed all of the sincerity of watching a guy who is approaching old age try to pick up a hobby he enjoyed as a kid. He spends a bunch of money on the kit and got the best gear. But he just doesn't have either the innocent enthusiasm or the boundless energy that gave him the unshakable focus on pushing toward perfection that he had in youth.

The sequels were more like when your spoiled cousin came over, intentionally broke one of your toys, got praised for playing with it "creatively" by her mother, and you got yelled at when you got mad at her for doing it. She knew what she was doing and she got pleasure from your impotent rage, knowing she could freely cause you this emotional harm and the authority figures would side with her against you.