What's the big deal about AAs in the 21st century? Not that I don't appreciate a well made AA figure, but I feel like to some extent they've been overused to the point that they've lost their uniqueness. The Kong figure is cool, but like most AAs he does really do much, and he looks especially static after all the action in the preceding film.
Robots are cool and amazing in a way that CGI can't replicate. At this point, CGI can do anything on film and look believable (Jungle Book being the most recent highpoint). But now everyone knows that if it's on a screen and it couldn't be done in real life, it's CGI and that takes a lot of the wonder out of it (except when the story is so enthralling it could work in any medium--again, Jungle Book.) We see a giant dinosaur on a screen and we know it's CGI and we know it's done by talented animators, but it's no longer amazing as an effect in itself.
But the auctioneer on Pirates...He's *STILL* amazing to watch. Knowing it's all physical...all done with tiny hydraulics and mechanisms... that's still a wonder to behold. On a technically simpler level, it's the same with the elephants in the bathing pool on Jungle Cruise. They're magical, because they have physical presence. They're really there-- wonderful "living" sculptures sharing our physical world with us.
I'm frankly underwhelmed by the Kong head myself (he just looks annoyed), but I'm sure it looks cooler in person, and I'm glad it's not just another projection.
I wouldn't want to lose the wonders CGI can produce these days, but I do miss the pre-CGI days when if you saw something amazing in a live-action film, it was fun to try to figure out how it was done (original Indy and SW trilogies, Superman 1, Aliens, Mary Poppins, Wizard of Oz, etc.) I hope there's always room for some practical effects, real sets, real makeup and AA's.
