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Maxing out the Stuff-O-Meter: Modern Blockbusters and the Problem of Excess
Sometimes I feel like there’s just too much “stuff” in modern Hollywood films.
For the last two decades now, the blockbuster has been growing in budget and technical ambition. My hunch is it began with the dual releases of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Lucas’ Star Wars prequels. Both films heralded important visual effects breakthroughs. On the positive side, with Gollum the film ambitioned to create fully integrated CG characters who were capable of giving humanistic performances. On the negative side, Jackson’s and Lucas’ own indulgences led to the films favouring spectacle and action, in Rings’ case often bloating the book’s battles into the major events of the film — given far more time and attention than the arguably more thematically important textual elements. Lucas, at the time, suffered a more noticeable failing: his sense of character, performance, mood and drama suffered in his gambit to push the technical boundaries. But, ultimately, they succeeded in designing spectacles that enchanted audiences. Since the early 2000s we’ve seen visual effects improving at a rapid pace: the scope of what they can do growing each passing year. Nowadays, VFX teams are creating marvels of all sorts, making immersive worlds come alive. Often the most impressive computer effects are the quietest. The ones…