I'm with the previous posters who want to see Grand Moff Tarkin in his prime.
I say we all lobby to get
Ralph Fiennes into the role.
As for the good & bad of the prequels... I enjoy them, but they don't hold the same fascination for me that the original trilogy did. That could be simply because I grew up with the first three. Eps I and II are kind of interlopers, in a way... messing with what was a perfect series.
Ep. I was a great introduction for Obi Wan. Ewan McGregor has absolutely
nailed his performance in portraying what Sir Alec Guinness would have been like as a young Obi. The kid they picked to play Anakin was a bit wooden, but child actors are difficult to direct. Natalie Portman could have done much better as her role - her line reading was always flat & monotone; I didn't feel any of the spirit that the mother of Leia should have held. Jar Jar needs to be killed violently - he was an atrocious addition to the storyline; he's just a product of rampant goofy-sidekick syndrome which seems to crop up as a formula in way too many movies. Fart jokes & prat falls should not be part of this epic story. Still, the movie was a good start to the storyline and had groundbreaking effects - I just wish George would focus more on writing & directing than digital crap.
Ep II - Should have had more in it. Less time wasted flying through the city to capture a bounty hunter that will be killed off before saying anything important; less time wasted on seeking out the origin of the other bounty hunter and chasing him fruitlessly through space; less time wasted on watching Anakin whine like a little bitch or prat-falling off of a poorly designed cow. With those cut out, more time could have been spent on The Sith and their plans and motives; more time could have been spent on Anakin's turn towards the dark side; more time could have been spent on things that will make the producers cut more good stuff out of Ep III. The kid playing Anakin was even worse than Ep I's... he totally lacks talent as an actor. Portmann was as monotone as ever (except in discussing politics on their picnic, she actually spoke as a senator should there). C3PO pissed me off something fierce with his totally worthless puns ("This is such a drag" and "I'm quite beside myself"... good grief). Again, Lucas should be considering his story a little more seriously... and for crying out loud, they have to get a director that can actually
direct their actors to act properly.
Not to say that Eps IV - VI were dramatic masterpieces of acting & directing... they were filled with cheesy lines & bad acting nearly the whole way through as well. But there was a certain class to the acting being done that made it a bit more forgiveable. I'd just expect that newer movies could do better. Woo, gotten off on a bit of a rant here, maybe we'll need another thread to discuss the prequels :P
As for Chewy being in III... I don't see where he fits in the story at this point. Either he's a slave & will be waiting for Han to rescue him in Ep 3.5, or he's just some generic wookiee that doesn't play into the story at all. I'm interested to see how George manages to work it out though.