Duh (Gaming)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, May 30, 2016, 17:48 (3099 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY
edited by Cody Miller, Monday, May 30, 2016, 17:59

For example, the airport battle in Captain America 3 is perhaps my favorite action scene from any movie in the past 10 years, and it is 99% computer generated.

This is where we fundamentally disagree. For me, this scene is the epitome of everything wrong with action movies today. First of all, you have characters fighting each other for no other reason then "why not?". Why is Antman there again? Because he was asked and apparently said what the hell. He pretty much just didn't give a fuck and had nothing better to do. What ideological reason was driving spiderman to be there again? In terms of narrative, there is no solid reason for many of these characters to be doing what they are doing.

Second, nothing happens and there are no consequences. People fight, yet at the end of the day nothing changes as a result of the scene, nobody gets hurt, and it was all kind of pointless. See point #1. The black Iron man who crashed even got new legs in the end, so he'll be back to the status quo. It functions as an obstacle in the way of the plot rather than as plot point itself.

I mention stunts because there are several obstacles that CG brings. The first is that the physics are never done right, so it seems fake right off the bat because it moves wrong. Have an actor do a stunt for real, and it not only looks real but you get a real reaction and feeling they are actually doing it. CG also tends to create over the top situations that are so implausible that you no longer suspend your disbelief.

I think CG is a fantastic tool, but not when it's used instead of something real that benefits the film. Mad Max used a shit ton of CG, but did it to supplement the stunts, not in replacement of them. I will take Indiana Jones hanging from the Truck in Raiders or Ethan Hunt scaling that tower in Dubai over that stupid airport fight in Captain America. Hell, I'd even take the boat chase in Face Off! I was actually quite bored during that scene in Captain America, whereas each time Ethan's glove slipped in MI4 my heart skipped a beat!