polluxlm wrote:

What I want to know is, if familiar characters, CGI and lightsabers are enough to make a great Star Wars movie, then why is the PT so disliked? Whatever it was it certainly had all of those elements.
Is it the few lines of cringe dialogue and acting tipping the scale?

There's more to the formula than CGI and lightsabre battles and Han Solo, but yeah, dialogue and acting are big problems in the PT. It spoils the moments that could be great. When the Vader mask is put on and we hear that classic breathing sound for the first time, it's awesome. But then a minute later he's yelling "NOOOOOOOO!" and I'm laughing. There's tension when Anakin and Obi-Wan confront each other, then Anakin says "Either you're with me, or you're my enemy" and I'm laughing because it sounds so awkward. Same when Anakin confesses his love to Padme on Naboo or when he tells her about killing the sand people. These should be big moments and none of them land for me. In particular, those two are so not in love it's jarring. I could've gotten into their non-chemistry if they led us to think that Padme was only with him to keep an eye on him, but they didn't really go that direction, at least not clearly enough for me to pick up on.

So yeah, the dialogue in the PT is cringe-worthy in key moments and the acting is often bad. I'd say the acting in Force Awakens is strong throughout.

But also I just didn't find the characters of the PT very likable or their motivations easy to understand. Like I said, Padme's love for Anakin never makes sense. And what was the point of Darth Maul or Qui-Gon Jinn? And am I supposed to hate Anakin or sympathize with him? (At times it seems he's pulled to the Dark Side because he's impatient with his place with the Jedi, other times he really seems to think it's the only way to save the woman he loves). Maybe the acting was bad because the characters were confusing.

Force Awakens very quickly shows you who these people are and why you should care about them. Even with Ren, they introduce the nuances of his character by first giving us clear signals about what he is, then violating our expectations about him. I thought it was well done.

But that's just my opinion. I forgive a cheesy plot easier than I forgive bad characters or dialogue, so VII was more my cup of tea than I-II-III.

EDIT: Sorry this turned out so long.