The de-aging Olympics of 2019
Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at 9:00AM by Cláudio Alves
The cinema of 2019 has been rich with technological wonders. Septuagenarian actors are now able to have virtual facelifts and look like middle-aged men again. Movie stars can be returned to their youthful selves of the 1990s and there's even the possibility of CGI cloning. This trend is so weirdly generalized that it can be found in a wide variety of projects: MCU tentpoles, auteur's forays into the land of action cinema, and three-and-a-half-hour-long meditations on mortality.
Not surprisingly, these various achievements might be in contention for the Best Visual Effects Oscar, but it's unlikely all of them will be honored...
CAPTAIN MARVEL
Samuel L. Jackson's transformation remains the year's most impressive de-aging effect. It's seamless, admirably consistent and corresponds to what we know Jackson looked like in his younger years. Pity the rest of the film's effects weren't as impressive.
GEMINI MAN
Will Smith's intergenerational twinning is astounding in many of Gemini Man's high-octane action scenes and the achievement is even more impressive when you consider Ang Lee's use of HFR. In quieter moments, especially those in direct sunlight, the illusion is less successful and the film has the misfortune of ending with its least convincing scene, effects-wise.
THE IRISHMAN
Martin Scorsese's grand opus suffers from the most extreme of these tech wonders because it tries to convincingly return 76-year-old Robert De Niro to the semblance of a thirtysomething man. Perhaps because The Irishman's thespians didn't wear any sort of tracking device or reference dots on their faces, the effect tends to come off as unnatural and plastic-looking. Thematically, there's some value to this. The flashbacks look like remembrances corrupted by the self-image of aged men who have forgotten the feel of youth and can only think of the past as a prelude to Death and old age. Still, it's difficult to fully accept the grotesque effects during the first few hours of The Irishman.
Which of these de-aging wonders do you prefer? Do any of these films deserve an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects?
Reader Comments (15)
"During the first few hours"....YEP.
Captain Marvel does not get enough credit for how great Jackson looked. It is so seamless, no one pays attention. This is the benchmark all de-aging should be.
I don't understand the bending over backwards to avoid calling The Irishman de-aging a distraction for far too much of it's run time. "Thematically, there's some value to this" Bullshit. Was not intended as that.Why feel like you must walk back a criticism and absolve poor Marty of a bad decision. Critics and the likes also act like it isn't too long and dragged. White legend filmmaker can do no wrong.
I agree with Ben. You don’t even think about it in “Captain Marvel”.
Two points that don’t get enough credit:
1) Samuel L. Jackson is a terrific actor. He doesn’t move like an old man. He is full of kinetic energy, humour and straight talk, the pleasure of working and engaging with other actors, and the joy of acting itself. We take him for granted.
2) All of the effects in “Captain Marvel” were great, and the acting was top notch across the board. It was a movie the studio was reluctant to make (finally, the first with a female lead). Critics were so ready to give it this year’s favourite dismissal “a movie nobody asked for, and nobody wanted”.
Yet it succeeded artistically and financially. All credit to the writers, actors, technical artists and crew who did magnificent work together.
/3rtful -- I'm not bending over backwards or anything of the sort. I loved The Irishman and thematically the de-aging flaws helped the film and its discourse on time, memory and Death. That was my experience, my subjective experience that I'm writing about here. If you thought it was terrible, fine, but please don't accuse me of being insincere.
Also, Scorsese can make terrible decisions. I'm still mystified by the love Casino and Wolf of Wall Street receive. I'm two steps away from hating those two. One can be a fan of the director without also being blind to his occasional missteps.
I'm sorry if I'm sounding a bit bullish or overly defensive. This recurring argument that critics must be lying when they praise something others don't like rubs me the wrong way. I'm honest in my writing and am not praising something I disliked just to agree with the critical consensus.
Again, sorry if I come off as rude in any way. It's certainly not my intention.
I honestly feel you are insincere on that one point or unconsciously have a protective feeling towards Scorcese or those involved. Very good piece otherwise.
I would request that you reconsider the Captain Marvel comment “pity the rest of the effects weren’t as impressive”.
All the effects were on the same level as the de-aging. They were varied and interesting. They served the story and furthered the narrative, rather than the “ooo, look at me” big action set pieces. Like the de-aging, you didn’t think about them. You thought about the story. For me, those are the most successful special effects.
/3rtful -- I've always felt like a supposed flaw can be a hidden blessing when it comes to filmmaking. The awkwardness of a non-actor can bring something brilliant to a narrative, little anachronisms in set design can suggest a story out of time. Judging it solely by a criteria of naturalistic credulity, the de-aging effects in The Irishman are bad yes. Overall, I think the film would feel less special to me if they weren't thus flawed.
I'm not insincere but I believe we have very different ways of perceiving art, or at the very least this particular film. Neither is right or wrong. I respect your opinion even if I don't fully agree with it and I'm not calling you out for being insincere or purposefully contrarian. Please concede me the same politeness.
Again, sorry if I'm making a big deal out of nothing. I always appreciate the feedback, even when it pushes some personal buttons. So, thank you for commenting, despite it all.
adri -- You're right, maybe I should rewatch it again. My main issues were with the showier space stuff at the end, though. The subtler effects, like all the illusion involved in the train fight, are seamless and appropriately unshowy, I have to say - almost as impressive as the seamless de-aging.
"...during the first few hours..." Boy, you said a mouthful there!
It's true that Scorsese tends to get a pass for unforced errors, which lesser(known) filmmakers would be pilloried over certainly. The Irishman just happens to be perhaps his most self-indulgent example of this.
Apart from that war scene with the grave digging, I... honestly didn’t think much about the deaging in The Irishman. It’s helped by not really knowing that DeNiro looks like right now anyway, but I was rarely able to go “oh that’s the effects.” Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention to that. Pacino I definitely had no issues with if they used it on him I couldn’t have even told you. What gives Robert away sometimes is his body posture and the way he moves, but I never had much of an issue with the facial work. And truly I couldn’t even tell you what part of the movie was current Joe Pesci. I have no idea how old he looks these days.
Captain Marvel’s we’re pretty faultless though.
I think when it comes to the de-aging, it is Marvel that are the clear winners. They have managed to get it right. Notably in that one scene in Captain America: Civil War where Tony Stark recreates a memory through a tech where we get to see a younger version of RDJ talking to Stark's parents. I was shocked by how good the effects were as I think they get it right with the other films they do as well as not use it as a gimmick but a tool to tell a story. Something Ang Lee has forgotten.
Cláudio: Thank you for being so gracious.
Who would have thought feelings would run high on a category like Special Effects? (especially for me?).
I appreciate your thoughtful courtesy.
The Marvel movies always have the best visual effects and Samuel L Jackson seems very convincing as younger man. Will Smith has one of those young looking faces even in middle age.
DeNiro looks fake- I did not have that much problem with either Pacino or Pesci- but DeNiro is suppose to be playing a much younger man at the beginning of the film and it doesn't work. I wonder who decided to use him instead of a younger actor but it was a bad decission
The visual effects in The Irishman is alright and not distracting in MY opinion. When you just focus on the storytelling, you do not actually focus on anything to criticize on.