CGI vs. puppets: What does it take to make a good star wars movie?

Rating: 8/10 (11 June 2006)

I have been an avid fan of star wars since I was a young boy. I have seen the old trilogy countless times and know many of the lines by heart. It is then expected that coming into this new trilogy, I had quite high expectations. Unfortunately, most of those died after Episode I and an insufferable Anakin Skywalker that looked like he was pulled out of Nickelodeon.
Thankfully, episode III has been better, albeit still of a completely different nature than the originals. I am going to detail some of those differences here:
*I TRIED NOT TO PUT ANY SPOILERS ABOUT THIS MOVIE, BUT THIS ASSUMES YOU KNOW SOME OF THE BASIC STUFF OF THE STAR WARS SAGA *
1) The overuse of CGI animations over real locations and men dressed in suits gives the viewer a lack of believability in the story. This was one of the mistakes in this trilogy (on the other hand look at the success of Lord of the Rings).
2) The original trilogy had a variety of side stories and side characters that made the story have so much breadth and depth (which contributed to the amount of games and comics created afterwards) Alas, these movies seem too focused on the main plot and miss out on its possibility to further expand the universe.
3) I agree with comments mentioned before about the script, it is disappointing. I cannot say that the script in the originals was fantastic, but at the very least the acting (mostly done by British actors) was truly amazing. Sometimes when I watch the new trilogy I feel like I am watching an action movie.. which brings me to my next point
4) Who the hell decided that we need a choreography for light sabre battles? Light sabre battles now seem more like dancing than actual fighting, in the originals when Obi Wan fought Darth Vader all they did was touch light sabres here and there, no fancy movements, just plain sparring. 5) The acting for the most part in the new ones is lacking. Especially with Anakin Skywalker, he got better on episode III, but Hayden Christensen.. I'm sorry, but you're no Darth Vader in my eyes. The love story between Padme and Anakin was not very believable and too childish (refer to Han and Leia in originals)
So what makes this episode iii better than the others in the new trilogy:
1) Well, pretty much it stuck to the storyline the most. It threw out some political commentaries here and there which are interesting, but so many movies nowadays are doing that too. What I found the most interesting is that you got to see the inner workings of Coruscant and the final development of Darth Vader. And finally, it has the most connections with the original story line than anything else.
2) CGI has gotten better since episode I. Making movie more believable, ergo the viewer gets more involved. Although my personal preference is enhance sceneries with CGI, just use puppets and suits for characters.
3) Thankfully we moved out of Episode I's childish aura and moved into a darker more ominous feel. Truer to Darth Vader's character (although it misses the mark slightly e.g. flashback to "NOOOOOOOOOO" scene at the end, ridiculous)
4) I very much liked the Emperor, I feel that he remained true to his character from the originals and contributed to a lot of the success in this movie.
Well, there's probably other things I can mention, but the list would get boring if it's not already. These are my two cents from a Star Wars fan, the last thing I have to say though is: Yoda what have they done to you!