I realize the purpose of this thread and I don't want to turn it into a PT apologetics thread but I gotta comment on some of this.

I don't think anyone thinks CGI is bad, but there is a point where it overwhelms the movie
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Where CGI goes wrong for me, is when it overwhelms the story & characters, and it becomes a big 'look how cool I can make this movie look' fest. You look at a movie like TPM, you have real locations like Tatooine, then you goto CGI environments like Kamino, Geonosis, Utapau, Mustafar, and just don't hold up as well compared to OT enviroments like Hoth and Endor.

I can understand that, but it seems to me that the prequel trilogy used it in a different way than a lot of action movies did. It was used as The Big Moment in a lot of movies in the past but TPM employed it in a way to establish (and embellish) a particular environment. A good example is Coruscant in TPM. It gives all the appearances of being the pinnacle of civilization and a place of hope for the lost and disenfranchised... which marks the contrast I think Lucas was shooting for with the rotting corruption that had spread so far in the Republic with only the powerful and wealthy voices being heard (even by the Jedi, ensconced as they were in their literal ivory tower), while "inconsequential" concerns from the likes of Queen Amidala being ignored, and nobodies like Anakin (a slave) and Jar Jar (an exile) being shut out completely.

These points aren't made exclusively by the technology but they're indispensable in bringing that point across by juxtaposing the expectation and (false) hope of Coruscant's image against the bureaucratic inefficiency created by the powermongers and the elite.

As for Mustafar and Geonosis (and maybe some of the others you mentioned), they included at least a few model shots embellished by CG trickery.

Really? you've never been fooled by a special effect?

Everyone's fooled sometimes. The point isn't about that, it's about the fact that some shots are blantantly effects shots. Whether it's with models and wires or with CGI, in short order you get to at least a few shots that scream "fake". This is true in the OT (with blue screens still somewhat visible in ROTJ's speeder bike chase) or the PT (Obi-Wan's eyeline with Jar Jar is off a few times in TPM). It doesn't ruin the moment for me, it just reminds me that I'm watching a film with a lot of effects. No big deal.