As lifelike as Grand Moff Tarkin looks in Rogue One, the knowledge that he is CGI could cause similarly unsettling feelings.
Edwards credited John Knoll, visual effects supervisor for Rogue One and chief creative officer at ILM, with having the confidence to convincingly execute a CGI Grand Moff Tarkin and selling producer Kathleen Kennedy on the idea.
However you felt watching the revived Tarkin in Rogue One, there’s no doubt that ILM did a spectacularly convincing job bringing him back to life.
In the end, it appears that Rogue One’s risks with an entirely CGI version of a well-known classic character have overall paid off.