NASA's Constellation Program

Obviously, at least to me anyway, I haven't been paying enough attention to the Constellation program.
Maybe I'm missing something here but, doesn't this two launch vehicle plus lander and crew module docking in Earth orbit seem a little over complicated. It's not like this has never been done before.
Given the advancements in technology over the past thirty odd years, you might actually have expected the entire program to produce a smaller more powerful vehicle.
Instead a recent report, http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/21/ares-v-rocket-could-crush-kennedys-crawlerway-will-cost-billions-to-upgrade/, has stated that the Ares V launch vehicle weighs more than the original Saturn V rocket did.

Huh!

The Saturn V rocket contained everything necessary for the entire mission in one launch vehicle.

Personally if I was in charge, I would have sent these guys back to the drawing board. There is an already proven launch vehicle in the data banks. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Improvements and upgrades could probably be made to the Saturn V rocket that would make it more efficient and less costly with the same end results.
The goal of the program is not to make the most complicated and biggest rocket in the world. Rather, it is to return humans to the Moon and to further our knowledge of the cosmos.