Comic Book Movies, like all other special effects heavy genres, have come a long way. Some of the elder statesman of CBM’s such as Superman and Batman had to get by with camera tricks and simple wire work. Some even sprinkled in some hand drawn animation for shots that were unavailable at the time (see: Jack Nicholson’s Joker falling at the end of Batman). Christopher Reeve’s flying scenes look fairly crude and rudimentary by today’s standards. Yet, these films are remembered as classics. At the time, they had some groundbreaking effects and set pieces but it is the story, direction and acting that hold them as revered classics today.
From there we moved into the Marvel era with X-Men and Blade. These movies upped the ante in effects with some rather large wire work scenes now that computers had the capability to edit them out. The cameras did not need to hide devices anymore to show superhuman feats. These movies trumpeted the explosion of the superhero genre in film. Like all other genre’s some have been iconic and some have been downright duds. One constant has remained though and exploded. The special effects have gotten bigger and better. CGI has been the spark (and gasoline) to that flame.
Now we hear word that Green Lantern will be a completely CGI suit. This has not been confirmed as of yet but even if it doesn’t happen, another CBM will surely go that route soon. It has been widely speculated that CGI will factor prominently after our own Ed Gross’ interview with Joe Johnston stating ”Casting Captain America is really casting two roles...Steve Rogers before and after the transformation from 98 pound weakling to perfect physical specimen. I can't divulge how we're going to do it, but the performance will be Chris Evans from beginning to end.”. Many feel the movie will use the same technology we saw in Benjamin Buttons to portay two very different versions of the same character.
Where does this mean we are headed? The completely computer animated worlds of Avatar and Pixar films are rapidly coming close to live action movies. What is real and what is an illusion. That is part of the charm of any film. Another part is seeing an actor completely take on a role or seeing set pieces of enormous proportions. As the cost of high performance computers becomes lower than the cost of people’s sweat and hard work, we might lose some qualities that first endeared us to movies. On the flip side of that, we are seeing things come to movie life that were never thought possible.
People like George Lucas wish they had today’s special effects back when they were first starting to fully see their vision come to life. Would Star Wars still be an awe inspiring iconic film? Many might believe that it might be more like the visually stunning but emotionally hollow Phantom Menace. Myself and millions of others are completely looking forward to Green Lantern but if it is only a visual step up from the animated (and widely panned) First Flight then we have not gained anything. I only use GL as an example of the direction all CBM’s are heading.
Balancing effects versus emotion is what separates the classics from the B movie retreads. I, for one, love the amazing effects that today’s computer artists bring. However, CGI can bring a visual crutch to a movie enabling a director, actor or any other aspect of a film crew to not mine what a story’s fully capable of telling. Can technology outpace our own brain’s creative ability for fantasy and imagination?