It's Not Easy To Nail CGI In Movies, But That's No Excuse For These 16 CGI Abominations

Brendan Fraser may think the "junky" CGI in The Mummy Returns is "perfect", but sadly I don't agree.

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Over the last few decades, CGI has ebbed its way into cinema at increasing rates, and with a variance of quality. Many moviegoers are tired of so many computer-generated effects, and long for the days of practical cinema and location filming.

Universal Pictures

While CGI is an obvious choice for those epic movies, it can also be done so badly that it's all that sticks with us after we've seen the film. So here's 16 dreadful and bizarre used of CGI in movies:

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1. The Mummy Returns (2001)

Universal Pictures

This movie actually did really well at the box office and is fondly remembered. It also gave Dwayne Johnson his acting debut, although his part in it will be forever associated with some questionable CGI. It was Dwayne's character, Mathayus, that looked incredibly "Junky", as Brendan Fraser called it. 

Despite viewers agreeing that it looks pretty ridiculous, Brendan thinks it gives it some charm, saying: “It kinda wouldn’t be as fun if you didn’t see this sort of janky video character of Dwayne going ‘rawwwh.’ And somehow, it’s just perfect, how things work out.”

It's safe to say CGI has come some way since, The Mummy Returns, but even at the time, it was pretty jarring.

You can see it here:

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2. The Matrix: Reloaded (2003)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Fight scenes in The Matrix series are often lauded for their choreography, but this particular fight scene, with Neo fending off hundreds of Agent Smiths, has one main flaw – the CGI. It's not even the fighting itself, but rather Neo's stretchy, rubbery, plasticine face that makes the whole sequence rather odd. 

It's particularly strange due to the juxtaposition between the live-action bits and then the clearly CGI'd bits that do not fit at all together. 

Have a look for yourself.

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3. Green Lantern (2011)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Look, Green Lantern was not a good movie, I think most people recognise that. And while it had multiple faults, the CGI suit was certainly one of them. Every time we saw the suit on Ryan Reynolds it just looked so bad that we couldn't really focus on any of the action. 

The suit was so bad, that Ryan Reynolds himself (as Deadpool) was still taking the piss of it a decade later. In the scene when Wade is getting his powers, he says, "Please don't make the super suit green... or animated." At least you can laugh now, Ryan!

You can see it here:

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4. Cats (2019)

Universal Pictures

A lot went wrong with Cats, the plot, the casting, and the loss of any whimsical campiness that it should have had, but no one could even get past the creepy "digital fur technology." From the very first trailer, the internet's response to the very strange felines was wild and ultimately doomed the whole film. 

The whole aesthetic was just incredibly creepy, and not in a cool fun way. 

Take a look here:

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5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

20th Century Fox

What made Wolverine's big, shiny, obviously CGI'd claws so frustrating in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is that they'd already made three films by then and the practice-effects-made claws in them were absolutely fine. So, when Wolverine reveals his oversized computer claws they just look ridiculous, and, obviously very different to the ones we're used to (and actually like). 

Watch the moment here:

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6. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Paramount Pictures

If the fourth Indiana Jones movie was a bit of a surprise to fans, then so was the decision to use lots of, mostly pointless, CGI. The computer-generated aliens may have had to be in there for the plot, which was still a strange choice, but the VFX animals were just plain bizarre. The Prairie Dog was utterly pointless and was incredibly silly – of course,  not quite as silly as the whole nuclear bomb/fridge situation. 

Here are the aliens:

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7. The Hobbit trilogy (2012-2014)

Warner Bros. Pictures

It was always going to be hard to recreate the magic of The Lord of the Rings, but there was one thing that helped make LOTR one of the best film series ever, and that was its use of practical effects. However scary and intimidating you can make a generated evil monster, it just simply wouldn't, or in this case, didn't, have the same impact as the incredible costume design of the initial trilogy. 

While there was some fitting hobbit-esque whimsy to the over-CGI'd scene such as the barrel chase, it just detracted from the magic of the world. Also, Legolas' CGI face just wasn't quite right.

Watch the barrel scene here:

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8. Die Another Day (2002)

20th Century Fox

If there's one indication of a bad CGI error, then it's the director admitting it's the one thing they'd change about the movie. Well, that's exactly what Lee Tamahori said about the frankly ridiculous kitesurfing scene, and I fully agree with him. Here's what he said: 

"The only thing I’d do differently would be the kitesurfing sequence. I don’t know how you’d do it differently. It was virtually impossible to do it for real as a real stunt: falling off the edge of a glacier, hastily concocting a kite-surfing rig, and kitesurfing your way out of danger. If you tried to do it for real… you just couldn’t do it.”

Check it out here:

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9. The Polar Express (2004)

Warner Bros. Pictures

The Polar Express was a new direction for motion-capture CGI and one that had a kinda horrifying effect. This new age of animation brought with it some serious uncanny valley vibe that made a festive film into an uncomfortable and kinda creepy watch. The general world was actually fine, but it was those janky facial expressions that just didn't feel right.

Here's a look:

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10. Blade: Trinity (2004)

New Line Cinema

Things weren't all that rosy on set it seems, as reports suggested that Wesley Snipes actually refused to open his eyes for the scene. So, the producers had a conundrum on their hands – how to show him waking up without using his eyes? Well, I guess they could have literally just cut to the movement of him getting up... But no, they CGI'd his eyes on... Terribly. 

Look at them here:

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11. Justice League (2017)

Warner Bros. Pictures

It was scheduling, filming conflicts, and reshoots that forced the hand of the production team for Justice League. They'd already completed the shoot with a clean-faced Henry Cavill, but by the time the reshoots came around, he'd grown a furry lip friend for Mission: Impossible – Fallout. Not having time to shave and regrow, they decided to give him a CGI shave, and the result was pretty weird, distracting, and funny. 

Zack Synder commented on the removal, saying: 

"I've only seen it in memes, you know, it was funny, because you know, part of me is happy that we were able to have that not be the total legacy of the hard work that he had done in the last 10 years. It's sad to think that, that would've been the last view that people had of Superman was that, whatever that is."

I'd have been perfectly happy with a moustached Superman if you ask me. 

Have a look here:

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12. Tron: Legacy (2010)

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Ageing up or down (usually down) with CGI has been used a lot now, but when Tron: Legacy digitally shaved some of the years off Jeff Bridges to reprise his role, the effect was just not quite right. Yes, the whole vibe is video-gamey, but with everyone else looking like a real human, Jeff's digital face really stuck out for the moments when he was talking. 

Here's a peak:

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13. I Am Legend (2007)

Warner Bros. Pictures

This was a good movie. Will Smith put in a great performance and the whole thing was exciting and fun, however, the jeopardy and action could have been far better if the Darkseekers didn't look so obviously computer generated. It would have been okay if they'd been otherworldly beings perhaps, but these were mutations from humans, and I think it could have greatly benefited from practical effects and costumes – even just the ones we see up close!

Have a look here:

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14. Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Parts 1 & 2 (2011-2012)

Summit Entertainment / Yahoo Movies

First of all, trying to digitize what they thought a perfect baby would look like is kinda odd, and second of all, using CGI to make a vampire baby look different to a human one just made it look clunky and out of place. They initially actually created an animatronic one which I'm glad they decided against because it was creepy AF, but using CGI was still super distracting.  

Have a look here:

youtube.com

15. Air Force One (1997)

Buena Vista International

Yes, I get it, it was 1997, and technology wasn't quite where it is now, particularly with special effects (although a lot of movies were doing some excellent effects before then). But there is still no excuse for how silly the crash at the end of this movie was. It went from a normal, albeit fairly ridiculous film, to what seemed like some sort of early-stage video game... 

Have a look here:

youtube.com

16. King Kong (2005)

Universal Pictures

While some fans had particular gripes about the dinosaur designs, the other special effect were fairly decent. That is, of course, until the incredibly prolonged dinosaur stampede scene. Maybe they'd have gotten away with it if it was a bit shorter, you know, all the dinos charging around, But it just goes on and on until all you can see is them running in front of a green screen. 

Have a look here:

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What other CGI fails are out there in films? Let us know in the comments below!

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