The eye-popping effects of The Matrix Revolutions are now more of a milestone for not making the Academy’s vfx short list. © 2003 Warner Bros. Ent. — U.S., Canada, Bahamas & Bermuda. © 2003 Village Roadshow Films (BVI) Ltd. — all other territories (all rights reserved used by permission), unless otherwise noted.

2003 was certainly a watershed year for films featuring digital visual effects. Running the gamut from Peter Pan, with its artful effects and overall design based on the illustrations and paintings of Maxfield Parrish, to the stunning world of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, to the ceaseless action of the two Matrix sequels, Reloaded and Revolutions, viewers have never before seen such variety. In the realm of pure fantasy, one wonders whether we have ever been presented with something so flatly audacious as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which brought vfx for effects sake to a new level. Or Underworld, with its fashion magazine veneer, almost, but not quite, camouflaged its lack of substantial narrative. Yet perhaps an even greater example of what might be considered the over-use of vfx was on display in the Matrix sequels, resulting in the now notorious omission of Revolutions from Oscar consideration. Speaking of the growth of vfx in the years since T2, Industrial Light & Magic’s visual effects supervisor Eric Brevig says, “There is nothing that we can’t create in terms of images. If you can think of it and communicate what you want, it can be created.”

Photoreal Environments and CG Characters
Due to the growth of digital technology, some of the most striking use of vfx risks going unnoticed, in the photorealistic dramas such as Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, The Last Samurai and Cold Mountain, which not only utilized CGI abundantly, but, perhaps, more importantly, took advantage of digital intermediate to achieve realistic atmosphere and scenery through alterations of natural decor.

The Hulk’s realism rivaled that of even Gollum. © 2003 Universal Studios. All rights reserved. Credit: ILM.

As a creature, the Hulk arguably outclasses Gollum in terms of sheer realism. But if there’s one thing that The Hulk proved, it is not to impose such lofty metaphoric and downright Freudian narrative on such a comic book fantasy. However, as a CG creation, Hulk may be the finest achievement yet concocted; technicians agree that the sensitivity of the facial close ups usher in a new era of realism in CG characters.