Originally posted by: zombie84
I think its ultimately the way the character is concieved and directed. I mean Gollum looks utterly realistic and his performance is one of the best in the entire LOTR trilogy, which itself is brimming with fine performances. Ultimately it comes down to how you use it. Watto was very well done. I wouldnt want any of those two characters done by puppets or stop motion or suites or anything. Ultimately the bottom line is that most of the CGI characters weren't used properly by Lucas.
I think its ultimately the way the character is concieved and directed. I mean Gollum looks utterly realistic and his performance is one of the best in the entire LOTR trilogy, which itself is brimming with fine performances. Ultimately it comes down to how you use it. Watto was very well done. I wouldnt want any of those two characters done by puppets or stop motion or suites or anything. Ultimately the bottom line is that most of the CGI characters weren't used properly by Lucas.
It all depends on the character and what they do with it. Watto is indeed very well done and often overlooked. The thing that I think is also overlooked is the robotic characters. Aside from R2 and 3PO's digital doubles, all of the battle droids and destroyer droids were totally convincing. The R2 and 3PO models were just off.
I guess it depends on whether you find the fake puppet more or the fake cgi character to be more pleasing. It is seems to be a matter of aesthetics. I don't see one to be better or worse than the other.