If the academy had any sense, Andy Serkis' monumental performance as Ceasar in "War for the Planet of the Apes" would be rewarded with an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. This is a weak-ass year for the male category, Serkis' performance towers above almost all other candidates. In fact, as the technology becomes better in the next few years and motion-capture becomes a fixture of cinema, Serkis will most likely be known as the groundbreaker, the legend that made it possible for great acting to infiltrate the art. In fact, the actor has called for motion-captured performances to finally be eligible for a nomination at the Academy Awards.
Serkis is the star of the show. It's hard to explain just how incredible his work is in "War," so much so that a special Oscar should be made for what will surely be a landmark effort in CGI acting. Every movement, every facial gesture is fully controlled and calculated by him. There is barely a false note in the way the motion-capture actor creates Caesar. Serkis has invented an entirely new medium of performance, it's a landmark feat. Give this man the appreciation he deserves. As they say, history will be kind to him and his talents.
"Many will be unaware that movies using significant motion-captured performances are currently deemed ineligible for Best Animated Feature nominations. Furthermore, motion-captured roles in both animated and more “traditional” features have never been nominated in Best Actor categories."
"You would think this transformative work would be universally and critically applauded, but unfortunately this is not the case. And Serkis is of course not alone acting in features that rely heavily on motion capture."
"Yet no motion-captured performance has ever been nominated for an Academy Award. Avatar (2009) was nominated for nine Academy Awards, but none of them were for acting. Nearly 50 per cent of the film was made using motion capture (as will the next series of Cameron’s Avatar films)."