Every film rests on three core elements. Plot, characters and dialogue. No amount of special effects will save a film if they can not effectively establish these. Case in point, Transformers 2. The special effects work by ILM was phenomenal.
The effects were great but it lacked a compelling plot and the dialogue suffered horribly. Another example being Clash of the Titans. The effects and set design were wonderful. You could appreciate the amount of time and detail that went into creating the film but the dialogue and plot were missing. The characters were flat. And the film suffered. Hollywood is getting lazy. First principles.
