CGI characters have had incredible evolution over the years. But these CGI characters, instead of enhancing the experience, ruined it for moviegoers.
Scooby Doo – Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
To say Monsters Unleashed was bad would be the understatement of the century. Scooby Doo found its way into our hearts starting all the way back in 1969. It probably is the most respected Hanna Barbera animation out there. Unfortunately, the kids franchise found little success in live action movies. The early 2000s were very delicate times for CGI technology. Scooby Doo already had a few sketchy live action renditions the fans never liked. Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed has aged terribly over the years. the more we look at CGI characters from movies like these, the more we find them cringe.
Garfield – Garfield: The Movie
This movie came to theaters in 2004. Even today, it remains Bill Murray’s greatest regret. He even pointed out that he regretted leading that movie in Zombieland. The 2004 film was not what Garfield fans expected it to be. It made fans think Garfield is better off as a Sunday cartoon strip from the funny pages than a Hollywood franchise. The movie still enjoys a very bad reputation for butchering the iconic CGI characters from Garfield for the big screens. The film is also credited for destroying any future potential for Garfield to make it big in Hollywood.
Blarp – Lost In Space
The only thing worse than a flat performance by Matt LeBlanc was watching Blarp do its thing in the film. Blarp seriously looked like one of those characters from the cutscenes out of a first generation Xbox game. You could literally see Matt LeBlanc struggle with scenes that had Blarp in it. This Jim Henson inspired blunder of a film was made worse because it did not get its CGI characters right. Had the movie shot-callers at least paid some attention to the special effects, maybe this movie would not have been vilified so much.
The Thing – The Thing (2011)
When John Carpenter gave us the original The Thing movie in 1982, it was heralded a a milestone in filmmaking. Body horror movies were never the same again. Its legendary usage of practical effects and prosthetic makeup is still regarded as one of the best in Hollywood. Flash forward to 2011 and we got another remake of this iconic film. The veru titular creature was rendered out of CGI. When CGI characters try to replace a creature that became famous due to the original film’s usage of practical rather than special effects, you know it is going to be a disaster. The Thing from the 2011 movie looked like it was a poorly designed monstrosity that should have stayed on the drawing board.
The Werewolves – Twilight Saga
The Twilight franchise is long gone. So it is safe to say this – NONE of the Twilight movies were any good. The artificial and mechanical acting of the actors in this teen romance was cringe already. What was worse was the movie’s usage of CGI characters. The werewolves in the final climactic battle sequence of the last film looked terrible. And when they start mauling scores of background actors in some scenes, we almost throw up. We would rather watch Robert Pattinson sparkle again.
Jar Jar Binks – Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Jar Jar Binks will always be the crown jewel of terribly written CGI characters of Hollywood. George Lucas‘ Prequel trilogy has very few avid followers. His reliability on too much CGI for the movies made them almost unwatchable. And Jar Jar Binks was the worst thing ever to come out of those films. His lines, looks, and appearances were all equally stupid and ridiculous. He remains one of the most hated CGI characters of all time.
