James Cameron is a renowned filmmaker known for his record-breaking, box-office-smashing movies. However, one thing that he has recently been making a lot of headlines about is his opinion on the superhero genre movies. From saying superheroes act like they are in college to blaming them for not going into retirement after having kids, James Cameron has hurt a lot of sentiments.
He is back for more. Taking another dig at the superhero movies, this time the Marvel Cinematic Universe in particular, James Cameron put their VFX on blast. While talking about his motivation for his Avatar films, the filmmaker did acknowledge the role superhero movies have in the rise of VFX. However, despite him not wanting to diss Marvel or DC, he very subtly did take a jab at their VFX.
James Cameron Talks VFX
Talking to ComicBook.com, James Cameron was asked if the VFX boost, which is mainly happening thanks to superhero movies, was a motivation for him to raise the bar with his movies. Cameron started off his reply by stating that comic book movies aka superhero movies have been the driving force for the rise in the quality of VFX in the entertainment industry. He added that the “rising tide of technique” helps everyone to grow together since it brings in more talented artists, tools, and codes that benefit everyone.
“Obviously the big comic book films have been driving the sheer volume of the industry… the rising tide of technique raises everybody together. It gives you higher quality artists, more tools and plug-ins and code [to use]. You’ve got more talented people writing code out there.”
Next, the Avatar director talked about WETA Digital or now known as Weta FX, a visual effects company that has worked on movies like Birds of Prey, Mulan, and of course, the two Avatar movies. He also talked about another company, Industrial Light & Magic, and stated that while it has done great work, comparing the two will always have WETA emerging victorious. Almost as if he couldn’t help it, Cameron ended his statement by taking a dig at the biggest MCU villain yet, Thanos the Mad Titan.
“Our team at WETA Digital is constantly having new hires, and it’s coming out of that pool. So it improves everything. That said, WETA Effects, as it’s called now, is the best. Right? Industrial Light & Magic does great work, but when it comes to the kind of emotive facial stuff that we’re doing… Thanos? Come on. Give me a break. You saw [‘Avatar: The Way of Water’]. It’s not even close. It’s what WETA did.”
A little fun fact, Cameron started off the ComicBook.com interview by stating that he wouldn’t be dissing the Marvel or DCU movies and that he loves their films. It looks like Cameron found the perfect moment to take a jab at the superhero movies and he just couldn’t help himself!
Praise for James Cameron’s VFX
Avatar: The Way of Water was released last month and has since then heavily dominated the box office, going over the $1 billion mark. While the sequel was praised for a number of things, it goes without saying that the visual effects of the film alone make it a worthwhile watch.
A select few lucky people who got to watch The Way of Water before the rest of the world stated that it was the best theatre experience of all time. In critic Scott Mantz’s words, Avatar 2 is “breathtakingly beautiful with the most incredible VFX” he has seen to date.
Pavani Rao Boddapati, a part of Avatar 2’s VFX team talked about the challenges faced to make the water seem as realistic as possible. She stated that people can very easily make out if the water looks fake. The challenge was to make the water look believable and for the audience to wish that they were there. She talked about the technology used to make that happen.
“We did a lot of work into making the water look believable and also making it look like you’re in there with stereo. So we used a high frame rate, added tiny particles, and put gel on the camera.”
The VFX team certainly had a lot of challenges in their way to making the movie a treat for the audience. Needless to say, their work met the expectations of the audience!
Avatar: The Way of Water is currently playing in theatres.
Source: ComicBook.com
