Television pretty much ruined the public's attention span. In a 30 second commercial, there's usually a cut every second. We have become accustomed to processing visual information at an alarming rate, and this has carried over into movies. Take a look at a chase scene in a contemporary film, then look at some of the 'fly-by's' in any one of the Star Wars prequels. You'll notice a huge difference.
I agree that the FX master shot has become overdone. I remember fans on the 'net heaping tons of praise on Peter Jackson for his reservations at using the sweeping FX shot and how better he was than Lucas for not showing off digital FX. Well, I go to see 'Fellowship' and there it is - the 'camera' flies in from a high overhead shot, sweeps down through Orthanc as Sauron's army constructs the tower...I mean, it was pretty but not necessary and make no mistake - it was WETA showing off.
I think people really need to be careful not to hang Lucas out to dry. He's given a lot of fillmakers the tools to do what they envision, but it's up to them eventually. Yeah, Lucas's ILM technology created The Hulk, but I don't see anyone criticizing that monstrosity of a film.
I'd like to ask many of you a simple question - Why is it, exactly, that you feel the need to question Lucas more than any other contemporary filmmaker, especially with such venom and spite?