xhonzi said:

Are the plot outlines bad? Or are they just poorly executed?

I don't think there's anything wrong with the PT on a conceptual level. I think it's half-hearted execution, an excess of special effects and a director who admitedly doesn't care about character development.

I firmly believe that with a few extra drafts to polish the dialogue and dangling plot threads (probably involving other writers), a director who cared about human emotions over spectacle, and an editor with a firm hand, the PT (while probably not the level of the OT) would have been a great series of films.