[snip] The specter of the digital actor - a kind of cyberslave who does the producer's bidding without a whimper or salary - has been a figure of terror for the last few years in Hollywood, as early technical experiments proved that it was at least possible to create a computer image that could plausibly replace a human being. But as "Final Fantasy" makes its way into theaters - the first of what promises to be a string of movies trying to put this challenge to the test - many wonder if the threat is as real as it once seemed, or if it simply takes computer animation down a fruitless cul-de-sac.