CGI has a place in special effects, but it should be used in moderation. The prequil trilogy was like an advertisement for LFL's new CGI department. When Lucas made "Star Wars" (what we now call A New Hope) back in 1976 he was creating a mythology for the modern world. He was also using a lot of the techniques he learned in film school for how to tell a story in more ways than just with words. ANH was like a silent film in structure. Although much of the dialogue was important to the progression of the story, the real momentum was in the way the characters were portrayed and in the way the film looked. The music carried as much of the story as anything else, and that was intentional. The use of light and dark areas, the shape of a room, the colours of costumes and props, the distance the camera was from an actor's face, the fact that everything looked used and worn out, the relationship between the characters.... all these things made the original trilogy great. Look at how many people still love the OT, even though by todays standards the special effects are lacking. Obviously there is something else going on. Whatever that "something else" is, does not appear to be present in the prequil trilogy.
Don't get me wrong. I don't think the entire PT is aweful. I have a copy of episodes I, II and III, and I watch them from time to time. There are things I very much like about them. I thought Ani's mother was the best actor in Ep I, and it's too bad that either she did not have a bigger role or that other actors did not follow her lead. Qui Gon was acted quite well, but I found there was a lot more that could have been done with his character.
I found ep II was less disappointing than ep I, but even as I sit here and type I find it difficult to recall much about it to talk about.
Over all, ep III was the best of the prequil trilogy. There was, I think, a little more character development, and more about what actually happened. However, I was put off by the fact that no matter where you looked at any given second there was always something moving in the background. One could not let the eye rest and just watch the characters. There were always things flying around and stuff - another argument that it was little more than a reason for CGI.
Don't get me wrong. I don't think the entire PT is aweful. I have a copy of episodes I, II and III, and I watch them from time to time. There are things I very much like about them. I thought Ani's mother was the best actor in Ep I, and it's too bad that either she did not have a bigger role or that other actors did not follow her lead. Qui Gon was acted quite well, but I found there was a lot more that could have been done with his character.
I found ep II was less disappointing than ep I, but even as I sit here and type I find it difficult to recall much about it to talk about.
Over all, ep III was the best of the prequil trilogy. There was, I think, a little more character development, and more about what actually happened. However, I was put off by the fact that no matter where you looked at any given second there was always something moving in the background. One could not let the eye rest and just watch the characters. There were always things flying around and stuff - another argument that it was little more than a reason for CGI.
