Impressive:
Hard to say, so much good VFX these days that being I easily forget being impressed.
But the one thing that does come to mind is the Nuclear Explosion in Twin Peaks S3 (episode 8 I believe). Not too recent but the most recent for me that sticks out.
It’s not the “quality” of the VFX per se, but just how tastefully and effectively it was done. And yea, one of Oppenheimer’s many flaws is that its Nuclear explosion sucked, however practical it was. In the cinema watching it I was literally thinking about the Twin Peaks scene and how weird it’d be for Nolan in a film about nuclear bombs to be out done on a nuclear explosion by Lynch in a TV series about just weird shit.
Worst:
Easily the Flash movie, particularly it’s time portal/spiral/whatever effects. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Flash film 100%! I feel like at some point they realized the film was probably going to bomb but they had sunk too much into it already so they just said fuck it, “We got 50 purely CG scenes and 200 bucks, whatever we get, we get.”
Yea, an astounding moment. Really marked this later phase in the comic movies era. Bringing back Keaton Batman and introducing a killer Kara/Supergirl and reusing a great Zod portrayal to … not give a fuck in the end at all!?!?
IMO the Tarkin in Rebel One wasn’t perfect, but was the most impressive.
The worst? Hands down WW 84…absolute dog shit all the way through
Impressive: Season 1 of The Witcher
Worst: Season 2 of The Witcher
If we’re talking the most recent effects I found impressive, I guess it would be Godzilla Minus Zero. Godzilla was so well done, it really was a joy to watch.
My main problem with VFX these days is that I can usually spot a green screen shot because the lighting is never quite right. I really want to watch Mad Max: Furiosa but the trailer has me worried. Compared to the original (Fury Road), where I’ve watched comparisons and never realised so much of the film was augmented with CGI.
Oh, I’ve just remembered. The worst VFX I’ve seen recently was Expendables 4. I stopped after the first big action sequence because it’s so awful.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s a blend of cheap CGI, actors on a green screen, intercut with decent live action vehicle footage from a competent second until director.
Compared to the original (Fury Road), where I’ve watched comparisons and never realised so much of the film was augmented with CGI.
The same way 60% of a horror movie is sound, 60% of “good CGI” is hiding the fact you’re doing CGI. The clearest example might be Game Of Thrones after a central character loses their right hand. The stump you see is always practical. The whole forearm is a prop. They used computers to hide his real arm sticking out his fake elbow, because they knew that’s not where you’d look.
Fury Road filmed the cars and faked the dirt.
In Deadpool and Wolverine, various side-characters’ powers were pretty fun to watch (not listing them, spoilers).
