Yuck.
More specifically, yuck to the gross CGI werewolf transformation. Can you even call it that? It's really just maybe a 10-frame morph from boy to CGI wolf (plus a badly ADR on a wolf's howl). There's no creativity in it whatsoever. They probably used the same feature-connecting morph solution that was sorta neat in Michael Jackson's Black or White video in 1991.
The werewolf transformation holds a very special place in cinema. Before CGI, it inspired some of the greatest special effects ever put to film. Almost everyone has seen six-time Academy Award-winning special effects grandmaster Rick Baker's pièce de résistance of make-up effects in the classic American Werewolf in London. It still reminds me of the horrible nightmares this film gave me for many years-- truth be told, I'm still too scaredy cat to watch it again.
But, if you dare, here it is, side by side with another masterpiece of classic cinema make-up and effects, the transformation scene from The Howling.
And, eighteen years later and countless innovations in special effects later, we get that New Moon weaksauce. Yuck.
I get that New Moon isn't a horror movie and its teenage girl fanbase doesn't want to be scared out of their wits, but come on. That transformation is so utilitarian that it feels like they weren't even trying.
And how can it not make you wonder how much effort is going into the rest of the movie. I mean-- they're going with that shot as the most exciting moment in the teaser trailer, for Chipotle's sake. Am I wrong?
Maybe I'd be more forgiving if Twilight meant to me what it means to its fanbase. Which I don't get, since I've gotten a rundown on the rest of the story from my wife and it sounds light years beyond ludicrous. I guess it's all in the execution. Which means they better get some damn good executors, and the guy doing the CGI ain't the caliber I'm talkin' about.
The most entertaining thing about Twilight, to me, is to watch my wife constantly rag on the books and movie while simultaneously being drawn to them like a thirsty leech. She's reading the first book again, and apparently not finding it any more appealing than she did the first time around.
Me, I'd never bury myself in a storyline I found aggravating and unsatisfying. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch the Star Wars prequels again.
I hope The Wolf Man is badass. Tho I kinda don't look forward to the nightmares.
I'm with you, Hugh.
ReplyDeleteTWILIGHT SUCKS.Period. And from what I saw (and I didn't see much of it)There is some stuff taken from "Buffy". It makes me mad.
Twilight DOES suck. But why did I stay up 72 hours straight and read the whole series? Oh why????
ReplyDeleteAnd I won't take anyone's opinion about it who hasn't read it, or at least read a little bit about it. The movies are what Hugh is focusing on, and pretty much to me, are "moving pictures" to the books.
There really isn't much taken from "Buffy" unless you go for the young girl going out with a vampire, but that's also in Tru Blood and probably other vampire stuff. There seems to be a recurring vampire and werewolf thing going on here. But these stories are from research on folklore, not necessarily Buffy.
Too bad about the CGI'd werewolf... you'd think their budget allowed more for a cool transformation scene. But who knows, it could look real... but I doubt it.
Grumble grumble old man. In the books, the werewolves do not go through an agonizing painfully long transformation. In fact, they can barely hold on to their human form because they are so easily and uncontrollably able to "pop" into a werewolf form. Like it or not, it makes them unpredictable, dangerous and hazardous to be around since such a quick transformation can easily rip someone apart who is standing too close. This because a major issue in the series. In no way can you compare to the (awesome) transformations you've seen the past ala American Werewolf.
ReplyDeleteHey, Rebecca. Lisa told me the same-- in fact, through her I've gleaned a pretty decent understanding of the entire storyline.
ReplyDeleteI did consider posting some sort of further explanation or even a concession, then I realized that even if the transformation were instantaneous, in "real life" there's no way it would look anything like it does in this trailer. It would still resemble a human boy becoming a wolf-- his body would stretch and sprout fur. This is an awful CGI morph-- like I said above, inferior even to the special effects used 18 years ago in T2. Not to mention that his clothes burst off and disappear in a thoroughly unrealistic manner, almost as if they were water droplets.
Maybe it shouldn't look like the famous transformations from werewolf horror movies-- but it sure as hell shouldn't look like THAT.
Grumble, grumble, fangirl. :)