It's even worse when you get a mixture of CGI and people in costume, it really comes down to the little details.
For some reason I've just been reminded of parts of Captain Scarlet, where it was all puppets, except for closeups of certain actions, when they would film peoples hands pressing buttons or suchlike. I always thought that was a nice touch.
I also find it difficult, in retrospect (and even with the original version), to see how Han was supposed to be a bit of a bad guy who gets reformed. He's the most goody-goody pirate I've ever seen.

That's because he's not a pirate, he's a smuggler. There's a big difference between A) quietly carrying illicit cargo, hoping you don't get caught and being ready to run like hell, and B) attacking other people's ships with the purpose of robbing and/or killing them.
That said, I also have to throw in my support in favor of the original versions of the Star Wars movies. When Lucas said "We now have the technology to make these as they should be", he was wrong. I suppose his idea was that the new additions should blend seamlessly with the original material. Instead, every addition stands out as if it was welded and riveted onto the original celluloid. And it looks ugly too. The CGI stormtroopers were obviously animated without the use of motion capture. And why the hell did he feel the need to make CGI stormtroopers anyway? Surely actors in armor would have been both cheaper, easier and much more realistic.

I would suggest smuggling and piracy are closely intertwined. In a completely unrelated example, computer piracy, you're certainly not stealing/robbing or killing people. (no matter what some people might say.)
We can certainly agree he's a well-connected criminal, I mean, he steps on Jabba's tail and gets away with it! (in one of the most cringeworthy CGI sequences ever... just let him walk behind dammit, and ignore jabbas bulk!).

It is, as you say, a completely unrelated example, and we both know that's not what you mean when you speak of "piracy" in connection with Han Solo. When you get a new mouse and need to get rid of the old one, do you call the exterminator? When a word has several different meanings, using one meaning in an argument about another meaning is not made acceptable simply because the word itself is the same.

I concede the point, but I think you can understand what I was getting at, despite my inapropriate use of the word "pirate".
I also loved your mouse example. Got me a big grin just thinking about it.

I usually flush it, or throw it out. I don't buy a new mouse unless my old one is dead.

I've had the same mouse for years now, logitech make damned good gear.
The way I see it, the purpose of the greedo scene in the original movie was to establish three things. Firstly that Han wasn't just a cargo pilot (there was no mention of smuggling at that point), second to show he was a tough customer who didn't panic so might be an asset to our heroes and third to show that he was a bit of a ruthless bastard who could kill greedo and then wander off as if nothing happened which could make the audience think that maybe luke & ben had picked the wrong kind of guy

To bad the Lucas that made the first three and the Lucas that made the second three are two completely different people. Or he just started getting a Napoleon complex and believing his own hype...