In a comment that is sure to start a war between traditionalists and CGI enthusiasts, Harrison Ford said that CGI is relied on too heavily in the modern action and fantasy films, to the point where the humanity of the film is lost to what amounts to a video game, which he called a soulless enterprise. The filmmakers alienate the viewers by adding too much visual stimulus that doesn’t need to be there. His example was the difference between six men and thousands of men. The six men represent an army that can be taken down by the hero, but thousands just seems impossible and even if they do make it, it seemed improbable. Scale is important in a film that the humanity has to be shown above the effects around the people. Ironically he stated his criticism at a movie that is filled with special effects called Cowboys and Aliens, which he is currently starring in. The film is set to be released soon.
While that one hasn’t been released to judge, I agree that there are some movies that go seriously overboard in the CGI effects department at the detriment to the actors. Two recent examples that I can think of is Zach Snyder’s Sucker Punch and Michael Bay’s Transformers. It was often difficult to feel or care for the actors and their plight when we are bombarded by so much CGI that they were lost in the background at times.
Of course, Ford, who is 67, is from old school Hollywood where acting was what people went to see, not explosions and strange mythical worlds. Even those older films that presented such worlds successfully did so with simplicity, because many of today’s technology were not available to them. George Lucas himself relied much more on storytelling and the actors in the older trilogy, where he later added CGI elements to “finish” the films. In the new trilogy, there were a lot more chaotic scenes because CGI made it possible, but in creating that mayhem, such as the war between the Dooku’s droid army and the Jedi, it was too much. There is just something more intimate and interesting about a small battalion of storm troopers chasing someone down a hallway then thousands of droids picking off everything in sight randomly.
Will Hollywood take Ford’s advice? Only if the audience gives up on such films, which we’ll have to see, but he’s right about one thing, gimmicks only go so far. If the acting and the story can’t get it done, all the effects in the world isn’t going to help.
In the meantime, here is the trailer to his new movie Cowboys and Aliens.
[video=youtube;oXHhnT1tHNM]
