It’s an age-old complaint about video games and films: bad graphics make them suck. But plenty of classic entertainment holds up even if the effects don’t. RocketJump Film School examines the issue in a brisk overview.
They argue that truly great CG is often invisible, so we don’t remember it. It’s also a genre issue, it seems. Sci-fi, horror, and action movies are most likely to use noticeable effects, and fans of those genres tend to want something they’ve never seen before. And the degree of difficulty is much higher when the effects are supposed to be photorealistic. Finally, cheesy graphics sometimes enhance the story, like Sharknado or Kung Fury. And sometimes they’re so unintentionally bad they’re good, like Birdemic.
Below, The Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns, generally considered among the very worst CGI effects in history.
