The two huge CG movies in November.
 

I figured that one thread might cover both films. Surely it's obvious which I'm talking about: The Incredibles and The Polar Express.

The Incredibles, for anyone living under a rock, is Pixar's next film. Written and Directed by Brad Bird (Iron Giant), The Incredibles looks to be a hilarious homage to the golden age of comic book superheroes. Featuring a family of such 'super' individuals - shades of the Fantastic Four - trying to cope with suburban life and, of course, save the world.

If you haven't seen the second trailer you should head over to http://www.apple.com/trailers/ and check it out. Once again Pixar has absolutely nailed the animation, producing some of the best character animation I've seen in a CGI movie. Visually it's very slick, backed by great writing (from the trailer at least) and voice acting. I have no doubt this will be another great film from Pixar.


The Polar Express: Ok, I admit calling this movie "animated" is a bit of a stretch. It's more like CGI overlaid onto live action. Using a technology dubbed 'performance capturing' the filmmakers are able to capture all motions, even facial expressions, of the actor and transfer them to a CGI model. Robert Zemeckis (director) choose this route in order to something akin to a live action oil painting; to blend the look of animation with the performance of a live actor. And damn if this movie doesn't look fantastic.

I just watched the newest trailer and I have to say it looks spectacular. This is probably the best looking CGI movie to date, and it handily beats Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within as the best realistic CGI movie. Especially since The Polar Express captures the subtle movement and expressions of a real person far better than The Spirits Within managed to. And I still can't get over just how amazing it looks.

It seems like the CGI movies have really taken over, especially with these 2 huge movies in one month and Robots as well as Advent Children just around the corner.

PS. One other little Incredibles tidbit: Apparently this film requires on average 4 times the computational power of Finding Nemo to render each frame.

The Polar Express: I'm not entirely convinced that the CGI beats Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within... It's good, but not that good. I'd have to see a fullscreen trailer for a better look though, dial-up doesn't do any favors, so the 160×120 resolution may be hiding something.

I'm scared to watch the trailer for The Incredibles... Knowing Pixar, it'll just be fantastic, and I'll go nuts wanting to go see it. ^^`

Well, The Polar Express is more stylized than The Spirits Within. But like I said TPE captures the intricacies of realistic human acting far better than TSW. The latter tended to be wooden at times - a flaw that, along with the bad screenplay, hurt the movie. Of course TSW was visually stunning, though so is TPE from what I've seen in the trailer. Especially the city at the north pole sequences and the display of the northern lights. Not to mention that scene of the train crossing the frozen lake.

Oh, and trust me, that Incredibles trailer is fantastic. It was a must see from when I saw the teaser before Finding Nemo and it's just gotten even better and better the more I hear about it. I think Pixar and Brad Bird have a real winner with this one.

Not even a guest appearence by Shadow could have saved Spirits Within...the animation was awesome, and the world had some promise, but...ya, lets stop talking about Spirits Within...Advent Children better be damn good to make up for Square's recent flops!

I would very much like seeing both of these movies. BUT! There is one thing about The Polar Express that bothers me. They are going to the north pole to see Santa right? But he doesen't live there! ARGH! He lives in Korvatunturi!
CGI taking over...Maby not taking over, but becoming more popular indeed.

Yeah, and pretty much every CGI movie has succeeded with the notable exceptions of The Spirits Within and Dinosaur. The latter is interesting in how technically amazing it was both in the CGI work and the blending of live action backdrops and yet is killed the instant they start talking.

Of course we've had great luck with the CGI movies. Pixar has been making one classic after another, Dreamworks PDI has produced good looking films with sharp humor, and even Blue Sky Studios' Ice Age was a solid film. I see the French have coughed up that direct to video film Kaena, which I hope to see in the not too distant future. And of course the Japanese are getting into it with Advent Children and Appleseed.

An honorable mention should go to The Last Flight of the Osiris, the second and last work of the FF:TSW team. It looked fantastic and visually even topped their first movie.

Another thing I find interesting is how the CGI is creeping into traditional animation. While Disney pioneered the blending of the two, everyone seems to be doing it. Even the French Triplets of Belleville has some CGI elements in it. I've noticed that lower budget anime likes to use it to extend their production values with fancy CGI backdrops, while the more costly anime, like Ghost in the Shell 2, goes for all out eye candy. Well, except Miyazaki's Spirited Away that uses the CGI very subtly.

Anyway, back to the movies next month. Surely I'm not the only one looking forward to The Incredibles? The writer/director of The Iron Giant alone should generate some interest along with the great trailer and Pixar's proven track record. You know, they even love the Pixar films in Japan, eh?

Well Polar Express looks well done just isn't my kind of movie. TSW would have been good, if it had anything to do with Final Fantasy

CGI is just the new thing. Like animation it will be another avenue for film makers. I just hope it doesn't over take conventional animation.

But I like what they did for Titan AE. Mixing live-action, CGI, and animation to create a unque feel.

I'll probably like the Incredibles just liek the other Pixar movies, but I'm quite tired of all these Shreks and Little Nemos and etc. basically coming out and everyone going on and on about how they're so great. Yes, personal opinion. They were funny and fun and I liked them. But they weren't THAT good.

Plus, not a single one has been anything but comedy as of yet, minus the Square ones which had zero amount of anything but heavy over-acted drama. However, I didn't mind Spirits too much.

My point is, I haven't seen a CG movie come to the level anywhere NEAR what I consider some of the best movies ever made. And you know I'm big on animation so I don't just think it automatically sucks compared to say, Cassablanca or some certain films in one medium. When I can see a CG movie come out of its shell (possibly when Pixar is loosened from its iron grip that is Disney), then I'll definitly acknowledge (sp) the movie and its medium. But hey, most mediums take time to get the best out of them. Traditional Animation itself didn't have some of what I'd call their 'best' works ever for a long time after it was first made. Nor regular old live action movies.

CG has only been here for a good 10-15 years max. Its got time to build up. I just wish it would branch out from other things besides Pixar standard comedy and maybe try to make it not look so...well....fake (yes, I still think the boy in the upcoming Incredibles looks like a heavily glossed 3D version of the boy from Iron Giant).

I would have to say that I had my speculations about the medium, but then agian, I think video games can be an art form. Hell some video games can be considered the worse things to happen to society (GTA, Counter Strike, Final Fantasy 7, etc.) yet there are still those diamonds in the rough. so what is different from this medium? sure there is the crap found within it, but considering how enjoyable and well written the movies are...fuck I love em.

On the whole, all the CG movies I have seen, except maybe Dinosaur from a personal opinion, have at least been somewhat above avg. if not pretty good. But I think that has to do simply with the fact that if you're going to spend 200-700 million dollars to do a movie in a new form that has never been tested or only has a small track record....they're gonna work hard to at least have a good story or something to make their money back.

I think since Pixar and arguably Square have been able to make their movies (or in Squares case other things) work for them, the medium of total GC is being recognized and will have a future and didn't just crash and burn.We have Toy Story to thank I think.

But as I said above, just from my poersonal opinion, I haven't seen the medium do too much in terms of veriety or....really, much of what I like beyond fun little....well, 200-400 million dollar comidies. Hey, dude, I'd LOVE to see a movie like Gladiator or Empire of the Sun or on an animation standpoint perhaps a Secret of Nimh or an good Anime like CardCaptor Sakura have a movie with THAT much money put behind it.