I agree, there is something missing in these fights that was there in the orignal Naruto fights. There seemed to be a lot more emotion and meaning behind each fight, and there were twists and turns in the plot. Remember the Zabuza arc? That was gold. Despite the genin involved not having uber-ultra-hardcore-one-hit-instant-death moves, the fights were more entertaining and drew you in to the story. I remember even when Itachi first turned up everyone was like 'wow!'

It all just seems a bit anti-climatic now. The only bit that evoked the same sort of feelings in Shippuden was the very first teaser trailer of the forthcoming Naruto Vs Sasuke fight.