Slashdot Mirror
Marvel Cinematic Universe Has a CGI Problem (screenrant.com)
Corey Hutchinson, writing for ScreenRant: The MCU may be the biggest thing in Hollywood these days, but there's no denying that its overuse of CGI is becoming more and more noticeable. Don't get us wrong; for the most part, the MCU's CGI has been great, even spectacular at times. Even at its worst, it's nowhere near the bottom of the pile in terms of poor special effects in superhero movies. And no single MCU entry has come anywhere close to the awfulness that is Justice League. But when a superhero franchise is pulling in this much money and getting consistently glowing reviews, the bar has to be set high, and several of the MCU's latest offerings just aren't clearing it. It's worth noting that the MCU's CGI shortcomings are a relatively recent thing. There's very little to complain about when it comes to the special effects behind their Phase One movies. They all hold up surprising well, in fact, and the same goes for the vast majority of Marvel's Phase Two films. There's a few dicey moments in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it wasn't really until Captain America: Civil War kicked off Phase Three that any negative attention was paid to the MCU's effects work.
Take a moment to rewatch the second Black Panther clip that was released to the public a few weeks ago. Specifically, hone in on the 45 second mark, where you see Nakia shooting two guys, the second of which is very obviously computer-generated. Why the hell would they even bother to CGI that, you ask?
Take a moment to rewatch the second Black Panther clip that was released to the public a few weeks ago. Specifically, hone in on the 45 second mark, where you see Nakia shooting two guys, the second of which is very obviously computer-generated. Why the hell would they even bother to CGI that, you ask?
It's getting to the point where they won't really need humans. Be cheaper to do it all CGI.
They're pretty much cartoons as it is, why not go the whole hog?
I read what you wrote, and found myself agreeing. And then I remembered enjoying "Back to the Future", "Robocop", "Conan the Barbarian", "The Princess Bride". "Escape from New York", etc.
So, speaking for myself, I've found that the things I really liked when I was younger do not hold up all that well to closer examination. The sword work is laughable, the premises farfetched, the plot holes abundant. Hell, I still enjoy watching those movies, especially the ones I first watched with my now wife. But while I -think- they are better than today's drek, I am not sure how much of that is just nostalgia.
So, I started watching "Wonder Woman", and stopped in disgust - not because of the woman empowerment, whatever that is, but because of how it shat all over World War I history, because of how ignorant it was of any historical martial arts, and because of how plot-hole-riddled it was. I got through "The Black Panther", but I many things annoyed me, would not dream of watching it again. Still, I wonder how much I would have enjoyed it if I had seen it when I was 15. Nowadays I mostly watch things that do not take itself seriously, or things that my wife can't even stand for being too grim and depressing. We just started watching "The Frankenstein Chronicles", and although it looks really good to me, it is too dark for her.
Maybe I am just an old fart, unable to enjoy the lighter things in life?
No good deed goes unpunished...
It is neither inexpensive
in terms of calories per hour of labor to procure it; its some of the cheapest food in history. Yes you might be able to get food slightly cheaper than fast food at the grocery, but remember now you need to invest additional time / labor in preparing it for consumption; if you value this time at your usual day rate, fast food often wins.
nor safe
Again on comparative basis you probably less likely to contract a food born illness purchasing something at a fast food restaurant; than almost anything else you could do. Now maybe long term a steady diet of items source only from fast food menus might have negative health impacts. There is not however much evidence to suggest this is problem unique to fast food. You could again eat a very high carb/sugar, high fat diet sourced elsewhere and would likely have most of the same health issues over time. Finally again in "historical context" a steady diet of what you can order at your typical fast food joint is probably more nutrious than what most of the western worlds population lived on as recently as a couple centuries ago.
And for "sustaining", watch "supersize me"
There were lots of problems with that documentry. Others have done similar experiments and got very different results.
I am not saying fast food is the best option, if you have time and resources to do other things. Its worth keeping in mind though that a couple dollars buys a lot of calories that are sterile, pleasant to consume, and available in abundance. There are a lot of people for whom its frequently their best option and again in historical context its pretty darn good one!
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
" Why the hell would they even bother to CGI that, you ask? "
I think a better question to ask is why anyone over the age of 15 goes to watch this sort of cookie cutter content free derivative crap with people in silly costumes doing not even suspension of disbelief believable stuff in the first place.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a get off my lawn rant, I love action films as much as the next guy, but the utter dross that are the "stories" from comics (no, they're NOT "graphic" novels, they're comics - for kids) don't deserve to be on daytime kids TV, never mind $100M+ spent on them per film.
Whereas, I don't like superhero movies either and think they're pretty dumb; really, it's for each their own. Most people on here won't like my taste in music, and I won't like theirs. We probably like different books. If people get a kick out of superhero movies- I don't have a problem with that. I'm more bothered by the commercial blasting I get everytime one is released than the movies themselves. That's more a product of our society than anything else though.. If it weren't superhero movies it would be some other movie being overly commercialized and advertised.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
And don't forget the "If you're not with me, you're against me" binary logic that has permeated almost everything in our society. If you're not a SJW, then obviously you're a Self Centered Sociopath.
I realize that you may not be saying exactly that, but enough people reading what you said, agreed, quickly reinforcing their own binary view of the world.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Tolkien argued that if you had to suspend disbelief, the writer had failed.
Yes, that's the sort of thing that SHOULD bother you. If you create a world where women can fly, then (as Terry Nation would have said), on that world a woman can fly. Under the Isaac Asimov Doctrine, you have to justify violations of known physics for it to qualify as sci-fi. And? Does that mean he couldn't write a bloody good story? No, it meant he wrote bloody good stories that were self-consistent and where deviations were acknowledged.
And fantasy? Science fantasy is required to be internally consistent. So, again, if Amazonian women can fly then Amazonian women can fly and that is NOT a problem. Those are the rules that the creators and top writers of the genres developed. And violations of history are not given a green pass under them. Flying women (and flying cars) are. Edible food from McDonald's is borderline fantasy.
This is how it has always been. And this is why pulp is regarded with such disgust by True Fans and True Authors alike. It is not sci-fi, it is Playboy in space, Westerns in space or Eastenders in Africa, but it is not sci-fi or fantasy.
Now get off my lawn.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)