If animators get lazy, overburdened, or careless, then CGI can totally ruin what's happening
in a movie. But some of these animated mishaps are hard to spot. So today, we're looking
at everything from Marvel movies to sci-fi masterpieces as we discover the CGI mistakes
that you might've missed.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe gave us 21 movies leading up to the epic conclusion that is
Avengers: Endgame. In a movie teeming with an enormous amount of CGI, it's a testament
to the acting capabilities of the incredible cast that they're able to portray the necessary
emotions while staring up into the giant foam heads of CGI character stand-ins.
Of course, given that these movies have such a large fanbase, it stands to reason that
slip-ups would be noticed as fanatics hover with their noses inches from the screen, pen
and legal pad at the ready. Some of these mistakes are so miniscule they're hardly worth
mentioning at all, such as a rendering issue in one of Thanos' legendary finger snaps where
his fingers ever so slightly pop out of his glove. Others, however, could lead us to miss
out on several seconds of action as we scratch our heads.
A prime example of this would be in the climactic moment when Mjolnir finds its way into the
hands of Captain America. Seconds before this, Thanos is pushing the ax, Stormbreaker, into
Thor's chest while the god of thunder resists with all his might. It's at this moment that
the legendary hammer zips through the air and clips Thanos' shoulder. A second after
the hit, Thanos turns back to face his star-spangled attacker...and he's no longer holding the
ax, but instead, he's wielding his dual-bladed sword. An unfortunate oversight.
"Are you crying?"
"No. Yes."
Released in 2011, In Time stars Justin Timberlake and brings to life a dystopian future in which
time has been monetized. In this sci-fi flick, all humans have been engineered to stop aging
at 25, and they've been given a timer on their forearms that constantly counts down. If this
timer reaches zero, you die instantly.
So, of course, the primary currency of this world is time itself.
"Bet you fifty years."
Sure, it's an obvious metaphor, but an intriguing plot nonetheless. Most of the film takes place
in a visibly believable landscape that doesn't need to implement an excessive amount of CGI.
There is one scene, however, that used it with terrible results.
The main characters are making a getaway in a stylish sports car when they drive across
road spikes. The spikes blow out their tires and send the car careening off the road, tumbling
down a rocky hill. Suddenly, the car turns all CGI, and it's bad. Real bad. Adding insult
to injury, you can see that the car is completely empty. No passengers are even inside as it
rolls down the hillside. The blunder is particularly frustrating because the use of CGI doesn't
even feel necessary, and it seems like this should've been an easy mistake to fix as they
could've just added dummy passengers in editing.
In the early 2000s, CGI was lacking in many departments. Granted, most of the time, we're
able to overlook a lot for nostalgia's sake, but some mistakes from the period seem avoidable,
as if they merely came down to a lack of oversight. And it's especially worse when you inject
a copious amount of bad animation into a scene that's supposed to be slow and sentimental.
It really kills the mood.
One of the worst offenders here is Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, particularly
that cheesy scene….
"I don't like sand."
No…. not that one… the other one
"From the moment I met you, all those years ago, not a day has gone by when I haven’t
thought of you."
Yeah, you know what? Let’s just come out and say it: it’s this scene - the dinner
scene…where Anakin and Padme are having a romantic meal together. Specifically, the
moment when Anakin sends a piece of pear floating across the table using his powers. Moments
before delivering the piece of the fruit to Padme with the Force, the CGI is obvious as
he cuts into it.
Once the piece of floating fruit reaches Padme, she plucks it out of the air using her fork
and takes a bite. However, the bite doesn't even register on the fruit until after she
pulls back from the fork. The scene itself feels unnecessary and comes across more as
George Lucas trying to show off his company's technical wizardry.
However you felt about the adaptation of Shazam!, it's hard to argue that a 14-year-old's first
stop with his new superpowers would be to stock up on Cheetos and Red Bull.
"Habanero jerky, if you eat enough of it, it can burn a hole in your stomach."
"Worth it."
"Yeah."
Most of the action sequences in this superhero flick maintain a fun visual aesthetic that
doesn't have us rolling our eyes too much. There is, however, one glaringly obvious slip-up
in one of its most iconic fight scenes.
In his first battle with the villainous Dr. Sivana, Billy struggles to fully utilize his
powers, stumbling through a mall as he tries to master the power of flight. There's a particular
sequence where our hero is jogging through the air by an escalator as panicked bystanders
scramble to escape the mayhem.
"Come on!"
But if you pay attention to the background, you can see several crew members, complete
with set passes around their necks, along the right side of the frame. They stand almost
statuesque, quietly observing as everyone around them sprints around the mall.
Director David F. Sandberg stated that it was a mistake they caught later on in post-production.
They tried correcting it by adding CGI shopping bags to make it seem as though the crew members
were shoppers in the mall. It was a valiant effort, but a quick rewatch shows the mistake
is still apparent.
Watchmen 2009's dark, gritty adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons graphic novel
is still the source of much debate among superhero fans. Some laud it for its accuracy to the
source material, but others dismiss it as a hackneyed attempt by director Zack Snyder
to once again capture lightning in a bottle after the success of 300. The movie takes
place in an alternate reality filled with superheroes who tend to be a product of their
environment. Some of them are overly self-righteous, others are a bit kooky, but none are as powerful
as the glowing super-being known as Dr. Manhattan, played by Billy Crudup.
"We repeat. The Superman exists. And he is American."
Most of Crudup's scenes as Dr. Manhattan were with the actor in a full body motion-capture
suit, complete with 2,500 glowing blue bulbs. The CGI of the character itself was quite
magnificent, even somehow escaping the dead eyes that can plague some animation, which
was quite a feat given that the hero's eyes are just glowing white eyeballs.
But even the most thorough animator can still slip up from time to time. In one of the final
scenes, as the villainous Ozymandias is confronted by other heroes, there are several moments
when you can see Dr. Manhattan in the reflection of Nite Owl's goggles. Only it isn't the CGI
rendered Dr. Manhattan, it's Billy Crudup in his light-up onesie. The mistake may be
small, but it's still one that will consume you the next time you watch the Watchmen.
The Matrix opened our eyes to all the possibilities that computers hold for our future.
"Like everyone else, you were born into bondage. Born into a prison that you cannot smell or
taste or touch."
Over 20 years later, most of the movie holds up well, and it's still fun to tumble down
the rabbit hole with Morpheus. However, while Neo might be a messiah, the movie itself isn't
flawless. In fact, there's one scene in particular that contains a CGI blunder...and it's a moment
that Matrix fans have seen many, many times.
In the climatic moments of the film, Neo and Trinity are on the rooftop of a skyscraper,
en route to rescue their beloved leader, Morpheus. And that's when one of the sinister Agents
takes over the body of a helicopter pilot and confronts our hero. Neo unloads the rest
of his bullets at the Agent, who dodges every single one. Neo chucks his now empty guns
aside as the Agent raises his own pistol and takes aim. No doubt you know what happens
next, but what you probably haven't noticed is everything that's disappeared as the camera
pans around a bullet-dodging Neo.
The bodies of most of the SWAT officers they had just fought all vanish, along with Trinity
herself and the empty guns Neo chucked aside. Given how long ago in CGI's history The Matrix
was released and how iconic the movie is in pop culture, it's easy to forgive this mistake.
But it doesn't make it any less easy to ignore as the camera pans around 360 degrees of nearly
empty space.
It's hard not to love everyone's favorite mutant, Wolverine. He was brought to life
by Hugh Jackman, who played the superhero for 17 years before wrapping up his final
appearance as the gruff, regenerating hero in the wonderful Logan. But while he appeared
in several X-Men movies, Jackman's first dive into Wolverine's background came in the 2009
film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And fortunately for the movie, we're willing to watch it thanks
to our love for Jackman...
"Because I'm the best there is at what I do. And what I do best isn't very nice."
But the filmmaking itself? It's pretty rough, especially those sub-par CGI effects.
A lot of the action scenes are still fun, and, like it or not, we even get a glimpse
of Ryan Reynolds' alternate version of Deadpool. But when you slow a scene down and try to
get all contemplative, it can be hard to disguise a lack of CGI quality. Early on in the movie,
Logan is in the bathroom examining his claws, and it's painfully obvious these blades are
animated as they fail to twist and turn with the movements of Jackman's fists. Given that
they aren't sparking against concrete or clashing with Deadpool's ridiculous sword-claws, it's
hard not to stare.
Obviously, there's plenty of computer generated imagery in the Harry Potter series. After
all, this is a movie about wizards, and you need some animation to make all their spells
come to life. But with all that CGI magic happening on-screen, there are bound to be
a few mistakes here and there. You may have giggled at the clumsy computer-generated bathroom
troll in The Sorcerer's Stone, but that fiasco was simply a product of its time. Another
huge CGI error in the series is more of an oversight that probably slipped by without
you even noticing.
In The Prisoner of Azkaban, we met and fell in love with Gary Oldman's misunderstood Sirius
Black. And, once the film has exhausted all our emotional capabilities, we wind down with
Harry and Sirius for a heartfelt moment.
"But know this. The ones that love us really never leave us."
Black then hops onto a hippogriff and flies off into the night. In the shot where the
hippogriff takes off, the ground underneath him is completely clear of any clutter so
clear, in fact, that it shines with the reflection of the moon. A quick moment later, Harry and
Hermione run across the same ground, and it's cluttered with leaves and debris.
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