Unfortunately, a lot of the elements you mention don't work either because the message is being delivered in an extremely poor fashion or it wasn't the director's intention (probably a little of both).
Lucas doesn't put the movie on pause and scream his point but he's not terribly subtle about it. The point I was trying to make is that the CGI complements the story being told about a government that appears to be Utopia is actually so self-absorbed that they've long since abandoned everything but the pretense of caring about anybody those who can buy political influence (ie, a gigantic corporation such as the Trade Federation having Senators). On that note...
Nobodies like Anakin because he's "the chosen one". How can anyone be told that at the age of 10 and then possibly be expected to keep their powers in check? Look at Akira for a perfect example. Teenager attains godly powers and ends up destroying half of Tokyo in the process of ascending. And as far as Jar Jar being an exile is concerned, he was given a pretty high position by the Queen herself. He was also the one person that wanted to give Palpatine full control. If anyone is to blame for Palpatine's rise though, it's Amidala with her no confidence vote in TPM.
I meant they were both roundly ignored in TPM. They obviously found some level of acceptance in subsequent films... although that only came about because their Jedi or Naboo leaders disobeyed what the Jedi Council and the Senate had declared the partyline. Nobody in the Senate (aside from Zod the Limey) cared about the Naboo invasion or the slaughter of Republic citizens at the hands of a rogue corporation's private army. As for the Jedi Council, they didn't give a shit that Tatooine is a haven for slavery or that Naboo was essentially being held hostage so that the Federation could have a fatter bottomline this quarter.
It's cool if you don't dig the PT. A lot of people don't. And again, I'm not trying to hijack this thread but it amazes me that (no offense to you or any other member) some people can't see the obvious here.
But all that's way OT.
Agreed.
I think the point is that a lot of things were done very unnecessarily. Look at the "Super Mario" chase through the factory in AOTC. What was that all about?
It's hard to believe that some sort of fight wouldn't take place when a Republic senator and the apprentice of a Jedi the Separatists had just captured wander in to the main production facility of said Separatists war machine.
If we hold the OT to your same principle, I'd nominate the elimination of the Falcon vs. TIE fighter dog fight after Luke and co. escape from the Death Star. I always found it hard to believe that the Imperials really would've had enough time to scramble an entire squad of TIE fighters to intercept the escaping Falcon before it could make it to hyperspace. It seems like an excuse for another thrilling escape and a space battle, and little else. The same thing applies to the Falcon/space slug thing in ESB. That sequence doesn't tie directly in to the Rebels being pursued by the Empire so why have it? You could drop both sequences from the film without missing too much!
Of course, both sequences rock and nobody in their right mind would seriously suggest they don't belong in their respective movies. I'm just making a point here.
The SW films are, at the end of the day, adventure movies so you have to have action spectacles like that. Sometimes they're indespinsable to the plot, sometimes they aren't but they're fun... and that's the whole point.