I really feel like somewhere along the line they forgot that what made Star Wars cool was the gritty 'Han shot first' scifi spaghetti western stuff. The Jedi are an important piece of that but it's so sanitized now - ain't nobody suddenly finding their bloody arm laying on the ground anymore.
I loved the franchise when I was a kid for exactly those reasons, and then Star Wars started talking about failed trade negotiations and midi-chlorian counts. I haven't paid too much attention since then, but I get the impression I haven't missed much.