I, for one, actually like AOTC. I won’t deny that the movie was a bit weak in terms of plot and character development (some of that is down to the fact that we already know that Anakin is going to become Vader so we know the end point). I loved all the battle scenes although the scene with all the jedi fighting was a little impersonal (not many close ups or personal battles within the whole fight). I was impressed with the CGi for the most part. Some of the scenery did not look totally convincing.
I think one point to make is that movies rely on the audience to suspend their disbelief about certain things. If you think about many movies too hard, you will realise that these things just don’t happen in real life, but you might be willing be believe that it is possible, maybe. The problem with some CGI is that, IMO, it is asking too much of the viewer. One example of this is from Spiderman. I have to add a disclaimer that I have not seen the movie, but this trailer is almost putting me off. If CGI shows something which a human being cannot do, like twisting or bending in a certain way, it then becomes obvious that it is CGI and that spoils the effect, IMO.
[SPOLIER ALERT]
There is a scene on the trailer where Spiderman lands on one bad guy[sup]tm[/sup] then flips on top of another and proceeds to beat up 4 or 5 in total. Some of the moves he does in this clip look totally impossible for a person to do. Even with super powers, a human body does not bend and flex like that and gravity still has a say in things too.
Glad someone mentioned Harryhausen. There was a love of the craft visible in any movie he worked on, too much modern CG is soulless without the little details Harryhausen put in.
CG is just a tool, watch Waking Life; it was computer animated, but the idiosyncrasies of the individual artists shone through. The style of that movie may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but I think it points a way for the CG craftsmen of hollywood to rediscover the art of special effects. The Fifth Element is another movie where the CG had a distinct artistic vision. I saw The Fifth Element before I knew Mobius was responsible for the design and recognized the style.
Spider-Man is generally pretty good about the use of CGI. It doesn’t seem over-used, in this poster’s humble opinion, but I liked the movie because it was about Peter Parker, not Spider-Man. Spider-Man is the persona Parker assumes, but he’s not the main reason for the film.
[.02c]
I haven’t seen AOTC, so I won’t comment. To me, CGI is not a substitute for an honest-to-god set, or something to do tricks with just because it will look cool. CGI used correctly can bring to life creatures or effects that would be impractical to create any other way.
I much prefer the space battles in the original star wars to the space battle in TPM. The fighters in the original series looked like real war machines, steel gray and suffering from wear and tear. The Naboo starfighters didn’t seem real, somehow.