2005 Calvins: Best Special Effects
By David Mumpower
February 15, 2005
The selection of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow for Best Special Effects of 2004 is, in hindsight, rather obvious. While all the other movies listed here sport magnificent sequences from start to finish, their look is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Sky Captain, on the other hand, feels new. New and different. But retro. The difficulty in accurately describing its uniqueness speaks volumes about the film's special effects achievements.
The World of Tomorrow is a tongue-in-cheek title. The stylized look of Sky Captain is a stubborn throwback to the era of over-the-top science fiction previously best exemplified by a cartoon piece, The Iron Giant. The fact that Sky Captain manages something previously accomplished using animated cels shows why it stands head and shoulders above the rest of this impressive group. Truly, this is the first blue/green screen production that feels like the actors have a genuine understanding of what will happen once the CGI is added in. A long dead actor was even added into the mix as a showy way to demonstrate what movies can do when properly integrated with the processing power of Moore's Law-evolving computers. Like the Wizard of Oz before, this is the movie that has squarely established itself as being at one with the new technology.
Our silver medalist missed the gold by only two votes. Spider-Man 2 does not have the showy gadgetry of its winning counterpart. What it offers instead is straightforward action fully enhanced by seamless computer animation. Whereas Sky Captain achieves a more all-consuming combination of actors and artificial backgrounds, Spidey takes the unreal and makes it feel believable. Doc Octopus as a character is a marvelously tortured Shakespearean villain. But Doc Octopus as a special effect is a technological marvel. Even as we watch the mechanical limbs moving around, we know that they are often not real. How then is it possible for us to lose ourselves in such wholly immersive action sequences? The wizardry of the technical achievements is that we somehow forget that none of his octagonal extremities are real.
Honestly, the main determinant of our third film's success is its treatment of its most important fictional creation. Trillions of fans across the galaxy have fallen in love with the characters in J.K. Rowling's groundbreaking series. When the characters of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are endangered, kids of all ages feel the palpable tension and grow alarmed. When we see the evil, soulless Dementor brought to life onscreen for the first time, it's a moment of realized expectation that has been fantasized about by fans for several years now. The main reason the vote was not even more favorable is that this is not the first time such a vision has been brought to life onscreen. The fact that our group had already satiated our desire for Quidditch reduces the Wow! factor of the Dementor. But only slightly.
Much to BOP's surprise, Isaac Asimov is not rolling over in his grave. To our complete shock, the world did not come to an end with the release of I, Robot despite the presence of Will Smith. The primary reason for this is the visual implementation of wave after wave of robots. Shown onscreen as a Microsoft-like R&D factory gone very, very wrong, the bots achieve the perfect blend of machinism and humanity. The hallmark accomplishment, of course, is Sonny. Not since the legendary HAL 9000 has a program struggled so much to balance his directed instructions and logic with his nascent understanding of emotion. Similar to Andy Serkis with Gollum, a great deal of the credit goes to Alan Tudyk for his voiceover work. But in the end, most of the success here stems from the programmers. Were the titular robots poorly implemented, Alex Proyas would have been significantly reduced in what he could accomplish in the movie. The fact that I, Robot is an instant classic says it all about the work done here.
Our fifth place entry is a bit of a surpise in that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind generally receives praise for everything but the special effects. Generally, the acting, the script and the movie itself hog the glory, but BOP didn't miss the cleverness of the CGI mind games. From the vanishing floors to the frequent treading through lead character Joel Barish's gradually spotless mind, the subversive nihilism permeates throughout. There is arguably nothing trickier in Hollywood these days than a special effects coordinator trying to implement the mad visions locked inside crazed genius Charlie Kaufman's head. That fact alone is enough to laud Mark Bero, Drew Jiritano and Thomas Viviano for their special effects wizardry.
Our sixth and seventh place entrants are separated by a single vote. BOP continues to be one of the strongest supporters of Zhang Yimou in the western hemisphere. This is why it's unsurprising that his visually stunning special effects sequences in Hero are enough to once again grab attention. In this case, flying arrows rather than the more celebrated daggers stick out. Both the scene where calligraphers maintain their poise as well as the denouement celebrate the aesthetic majesty of an aerial onslaught.
The film Hero just edges out another BOP fave, Brad Bird. We have anticipated the combination of Bird with Pixar since the moment it was announced. To our surprise, The Incredibles not only met but exceeded our unrealistic expectations. The stylized look hearkens back to the James Bond series albeit with a smidge of Our Man Flynn thrown in. Cynical send-ups of Ian Fleming moments take a back seat to the reliable Pixar magic, though. Sequences such as the lava battle and the final urban showdown remind us why all the other animation studios are at their wit's end trying to figure how Pixar does it every time.
The final tier of top ten entries includes The Day After Tomorrow, House of Flying Daggers and Hellboy. Tomorrow is well-made monument porn. It offers several visceral sequences involving landmarks being ripped asunder, and it manages to do this without being sullied by anything resembling a plot. Stripped bare of ambition, it becomes a perfect example of disaster cinema at its popcorn best. Flying Daggers does special effects the old-fashioned way. CGI is dialed down while wirework is celebrated. The sequence where Zhang Ziyi's character and her protector attempt to escape treetop assailants is unlike anything witnessed in 2004 cinema. It's not cutting edge, but it's damn sure stimulating. As for Hellboy, we just like Ron Perlman's horns. We might even wear them at Halloween this year.
The near misses this year are Dawn of the Dead and The Aviator. Dead's 29 votes puts it five below Hellboy. While we love this zombie adventure in all its bloodly, gruesome glory, it just doesn't have that single memorable money shot special effect that would make it stick out more than its selected counterparts. Meanwhile, The Aviator's 24 votes reflect the fact that it does have some stunning moments, particularly the plane crash. It just doesn't have enough of them to qualify it over the works listed here.
|
Top 10
|
| Position |
Film |
Total Points |
| 1 |
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow |
112 |
| 2 |
Spider-Man 2 |
110 |
| 3 (tie) |
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |
79 |
| 3 (tie) |
I, Robot |
79 |
| 5 |
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
56 |
| 6 |
Hero |
52 |
| 7 |
The Incredibles |
51 |
| 8 |
The Day After Tomorrow |
39 |
| 9 |
House of Flying Daggers |
35 |
| 10 |
Hellboy |
34 |
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