I came out of this movie with mixed feelings. I was aware that I felt disappointed, although I wasn't sure why. I enjoyed it, I thought about it quite consistently for days afterwards, but there was still something about it which let me down. I realised what it was this morning. It's the
CGI.
I can't really say this with absolute confidence that I'm right, but I would imagine that one of the best things about the first Star Wars films was that they were real; you could always have anything you wanted in a cartoon. In a cartoon, there's no such thing as special effects: it's all artwork and animation. But Stars Wars wasn't a cartoon. It was with real creatures and real goo and it was like someone's imagination had come to life. It was as real as Dirty Harry. But Episode II, to me, was more of an animated feature than a film. Now don't get me wrong: I love animated feautes (especially Peter Pan). But Star Wars isn't supposed to be an animated feature. Someone said to me that it was more than 70% CGI. I could tell. It seemed too much like Space Jam, having real people in a world that's mostly animated.
And I know what you're saying: welcome to the world of today's special effects, kid. And I can't argue, only whine. But I didn't want to go see an animated feature. I wanted to see a movie with excellent special effects and CGI only to cement a scene which didn't quite look smooth enough. I don't want Star Wars to be dominated by CGI.
Like others, I want Star Wars to be dark and scary. Darth Vader used to be the closest thing to Hell I could imagine. I don't think he'll be especially scary as a piece of artwork. I pray he won't become CGI as well. CGI is cute, and was responsible for some of the more excellent structures and landscapes of the film, but I don't think it should be what Star Wars is made of.