Across time, there have been some phenomenal motion capture performances from some of the most unlikely sources. It doesn’t excuse the fact that there have also been some questionable mo-cap performances over the years that go hand-in-hand with even worse technical effects. Thankfully, there are far more respectable mo-cap efforts than not, which have in turn gifted us with the greatest cinematic masterpieces to ever grace the big screen.
Funnily enough, a tweet calling all film fans to action to decide the best motion capture performance ever given is delivering a heavy dose of Andy Serkis and severely lacking in literally anyone else. Still, despite boasting two very different characters in The Lord of the Rings‘ Gollum and The Planet of the Apes‘ Caesar, Serkis isn’t coming out on top in this heated debate.
Over on Twitter, @bluerayangel tweeted, “What’s the best motion capture performance in a movie?” alongside four separate images of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings (Andy Serkis), Caesar from The Planet of the Apes (also Andy Serkis), Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean (Bill Nighy) and Neytiri from Avatar (Zoe Saldaña). Naturally, voters are able to add their own suggestions into the mix, if they so strongly believe that another contender deserves the title.
Despite Serkis having both Gollum and Caesar to boost his votes, he significantly trailed behind Nighy’s Davy Jones, who seems to be the resounding winner based on the sheer amount of mentions he received. Sorry, Andy.
Fret not, Serkis fans. Despite the overwhelming amount of praise and admiration for Nighy, there were still Serkisians (is that even a thing?) who flocked to his defense against the untouchable Pirates of the Caribbean star. Both Serkis’ Gollum and Caesar received recognition for contrasting reasons, but it’s no coincidence that two out of the four images featured a character brought to life by Andy Serkis.
Sadly, there didn’t appear to be much love for Zoe Saldaña’s Neytiri, but at least she has her Guardians of the Galaxy career to fall back on. Umfortunately for Saldaña, her role as Neytiri is tarnished somewhat by the controversy surrounding James Cameron’s criticism of superhero movies, in particular for claiming that Wonder Woman was a downgrade in the imaging of a strong female heroine. Still, even with no love for Neytiri, it doesn’t matter too much who comes out on top between Serkis and Nighy, since both are mind-blowing renditions of iconic characters.