I don't think either looks real. I can see where the mask joins the actor's face on a mask so that looks just as fake as any effect and there are always tells when you are looking at a model so I really don't think it is worth getting upset about. That is all I am saying. All special effect will always look fake if you know what to look for and I don't like second guessing people like directors when I don't have all the facts. There are so many factors that come into play when deciding if you are going to use a practical effect or a CGI one in a modern film so in this case I don't think we have enough facts to judge what should have been used where since we don't have a budget or production time breakdown or the contracts for every one involved in the making of the film.
I really don't think practical effects get scrapped for no reason and if a director did spend money on them and just scrap them because he wanted a fake CGi effect for no reason(forcing the studio to pay twice for the same effect)I really don't think that director would work in Hollywood again.
I agree that there are times when practical effects look better(Just look at Farscape)but some times using practical effects is not practical and I am not going to hold it against the director or anyone else if they had to switch effects techniques to get the film made on time or on budget. i really don't think CGI is being used in most cases just to use CGI. It's being used because it's the best way to get things down for the time and money involved.
Now in a perfect word they would be able to spend ten years on the production of any film and the budget would be unlimited but this isn't a perfect world and the fact is that while directors may be artists the art they are making is a product to be sold so they have to answer to the money men who fund it and they have contracts they have to full fill and release dates to hit and budgets to stick to. That's just the nature of the beast when working with big budget films you don't fund yourself and I have nothing against a director using CGI to get his or her job done.
That is all I am saying.