"You can write this shit, George, but you can't say it." That was Harrison Ford speaking to George Lucas on the set of the original Star Wars film, and his critique of Lucas's inability to write dialogue goes double for the three prequels. At a recent screening of Revenge of the Sith at the Cinerama, the crowd groaned during the turgid Anakin-Amidala love scenes. Geeks may be Balkanized over issues such as midichlorians and which prequel blows the least, but they can all agree the dialogue is painful.

Take heart, my fellow dweebs. Now you can experience the prequel trilogy the way it should be: without any dialogue whatsoever, and performed by actors made entirely of Lego blocks.

Lego Star Wars: The Video Game recreates all three of the recent films in playable form. See Lego Anakin's stubby plastic legs fall off when Lego Obi-Wan cuts him down to size without any un-Vaderish whimpering or sobbing. Thrill to Lego Qui-Gon's journey to the undersea city on Naboo, mercifully truncated to about 45 seconds with not a word from that jelly-belly fish guy. Rejoice as Jar Jar says absolutely nothing. Indeed, not a single line of dialogue is uttered. The story is told in pantomime, with animated facial expressions and broad, comedic gestures. It may not be as thrilling as the films sometimes are, but it certainly isn't as dull.

There are something like 50 playable characters in the game that you can unlock. After playing through a level in "story mode," you can return to it anytime with any characters you want. The game asks you to gather Lego pieces to construct a lengthy list of spaceships; each level has the parts for one ship kit, and one part for a "superkit." Many parts cannot be discovered in story mode-you have to go back with a different character, whose special power is needed to solve the kit-granting puzzle. Jar Jar can jump extra high, R2D2 can hover on rockets, and all Jedi can reduce objects to their component Lego blocks and reconfigure them into different objects.

You lead a little group of two to four characters, and you can tag another character to take control of it. At any time somebody else can pick up a controller and jump in to play alongside you, which comes in handy for some puzzles: on that watery clone-making planet, teamwork turns a control room into a disco, and the long-necked aliens start dancing for your amusement.

If you aren't a Star Wars geek, this game probably has little appeal. Minus the collector gameplay, it's surprisingly brief-I played through Revenge of the Sith in a short evening. But it is consistently witty and creative, with a real sense of play. Best of all, its delightful pantomime retelling of the three prequels redeems Star Wars, recapturing some of that original magic that enraptured us as children.