Cgi

[ExRetailDrone]

Add me to the list of being sick of 3D, at least how Hollywood has mostly been using it. I agree with Andara that Avatar made excellent use of the 3D effects. The world popped and I could imagine that I was in it myself instead of being an outside onlooker. Unfortunately, a lot of the 3D movies that are out or upcoming have seemed to use it just because it's there rather than using it to add to or advance the story or world. Clash of the Titans is a great example of the latter. I went to see it in 3D thinking it could be really cool. I was horribly mistaken. It wasn't until after my husband and I spent the extra money on the 3D version that we found out the movie wasn't originally planned or made for 3D - the studio or whoever decided to add the 3D later. That made perfect sense since the 3D was barely there and didn't make sense in the least. What a ripoff!

CGI I don't mind as much. Maybe because it's been around longer and for the most part it seems that it's used decently well in contribution to the story and feel. I do agree about the action sequences being overrun with too-far-out-there CGI effects, though. But that's not something I run across all that often simply because I'm not a big fan of action movies to begin with so I don't usually go out of my way to see one. So the few that I have seen with the CGI sequences haven't bothered me as much as they might someone who loves action movies and watches them a lot.

[muses_nightmare]

I am so sick of 3D movies, most of the time they kind of make me dizzy, I just want to go in and watch a regular movie dammit!

I don't generally have a problem with CGI, but I think there are a lot of movies that do it badly or use too much of it, storyline be damned.

[Andara Bledin]

CGI, in and of itself, isn't the problem. It's that it's still new enough that the shiny hasn't worn off to the point where movie-makers are focusing on the telling of the story as opposed to the shininess of the technology.

It's like a lot of the current crop of 3D movies. Too many of them are focusing on the "poke shit out at the audience" as opposed to making the 3D another part of the enhancement for suspension of disbelief. Avatar was an excellent use of 3D effects, using it to make the world seem fuller and give it more depth (literally and figuratively). Based on the trailer alone, the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie is all about stupid gimmick 3D and is going to suck more for it.

As for the popularity of CGI, it's not going to go away for one particular reason: money.

^-.-^

[HYHYBT]

Battles especially annoy me; since they *can* put in huge armies, they do. Then all you see are swarms of people (or whatever) rather than focusing on a small enough number of them that you can actually tell who is who and what's going on.

[Rageaholic]

I've been noticing the increase in CGI in movie trailers, particularly live action/adventure movies. Or what I like to call "big fucking movies" (Avatar, Clash of the Titans, Inception, and the like). It seems like a lot of people are sick of CGI taking over movies, missing the good old days when they did everything by hand. Now I normally roll my eyes at those people, but in this case, I think they may have a point.

Now I can't fault film producers for taking advantage of our ever growing technology. CGI is probably a lot safer, easier, and more flexible to use. And to it's credit, I've seen some very impressive CGI effects. And really, isn't it the story that matters, not the effects?

On the other hand, I can see exactly what critics of CGI and 3D technology are talking about. Maybe it's just me, but it appears that a lot of movies are overhyped because of their CGI or 3D effects. "Ooh look we just blew up a city! Watch this movie for more faux special effects!". It just comes across as so pretentious that when I see trailers, I don't think "OMG I GOTTA SEE THAT!!" all I can think is "Meh, it looks kind of cool".

As much as I hate to admit it, I think I do miss the "good old days" of movie making. Particularly action movies where fight scenes were a lot more fun and creative, sometimes even with slapstick added to the mix. One that sticks out for me is the "Long Kiss Goodnight". It had so much variety in it's action scenes. At times, it required a huge suspension of disbelief. Like one scene where Samual L Jackson is blown out of a building, flys back first into a tree (breaking the chair he was tied to), falls down, and then is able to pick up a knife to heave at the goon that was about to shoot him. It was unbelievable, contrived, and downright silly, but IT LOOKED REAL so I believed it. And even if it didn't, it was still a pretty creative action scene where you couldn't help but go "HELL YEAH!".

The problem with CGI action scenes is none of that fun is there. Sure, there are bigger explosions and stuff, but those actually get boring. They try to make them all Matrix like with excessive slow mo and unbelievable moves, but it just looks so fake and unbelievable, like I'm not even watching actual humans fight. As a result, I find that it lacks the suspense or thrill of 90s action movies. Instead, it just looks pretentious and overdone.

I don't know, I haven't watched modern day movies, and am judging by the trailers (and a few action scenes I have seen), but this is what I get from CGI.