2023 Oscars: Visual Effects

Nominees

*“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Avatar: The Way of Water” [Prediction]
*“The Batman” [Want]
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
*“Top Gun: Maverick”

Snubs

“Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio”
“Mad God”
“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On”

The “Best Visual Effects” category at the Oscars is for nominees who display outstanding achievements in two specific ways:

(a) consideration of the contribution the visual effects make to the overall production and
(b) the artistry, skill and fidelity with which the visual illusions are achieved.

I foresee an extra clause being added to this in the near future that animated films cannot contend for the award but, as is, we have precedent with The Lion King [2019], Kubo and the Two Strings [2016], and The Nightmare Before Christmas [1993]. So, yes. My notable snubs for the visual effects category this year are all stop-motion films; two of which are even nominated for Animated Feature. Hardly “snubs” one might say, but snubs for me nonetheless. While I haven’t seen Avatar or Wakanda Forever, I feel confident in saying one should be replaced and the other will almost certainly win the award… Given that, to my understanding, the only thing Avatar has going for it are its visual effects.

While I don’t think that any of the above films have FX that are noteworthy for being blasé or particularly low quality, there were several times during both Western Front and Maverick that I found them noticeable. I think a film touted as the “best” in the category should have seamless FX throughout, or implement them in such a way as to showcase they are intended to be noticed; such as the still astounding 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This is where my snub list comes into play.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio should replace Western Front as it already has a nomination in the category where it truly deserves recognition: Makeup and Hairstyling. Putting Pinocchio in the Visual Effects category could then effectively remove it from the running of Animated Feature, where it has no business being… since it isn’t very good [it’s actually quite bad]; it’s just incredible to look at. For similar levels of technical prowess, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On should certainly be on this list, replacing either Maverick or Wakanda Forever — in terms of stop-motion fidelity and execution, Marcel is one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in a very long time. Unlike Pinocchio, it’s also well deserving of its place in Animated Feature because it’s a well-told, meaningful tale. Mad God was a feat of creative passion that should be commended… even if it was more “mad” than it was “God”.

This will come up again when we get to Cinematography, but I think that The Batman and Top Gun: Maverick are the two strangest entries on this list. I haven’t seen the same type of “making of” content regarding Maverick that I have with Batman, so it is a little difficult to say; but I’m not sure that either film rests its laurels on the quality of its FX as much as the cinematography surrounding those FX. This seems like an easy argument of “if visual effects make the shot stand out, it’s an FX award, not a shot award”. I would agree with this, except that we have precedent as recently as 2017’s Blade Runner 2049 that FX-based cinematography will qualify a film for both awards; in 2049's case, taking the award from Dunkirk for cinematography… Which is still insane to me. Given that the Cinematography category is very strong, I think these may simply be make-up nominations, though that still doesn’t properly showcase the incredible camera-work either of these films featured.

So, there we have it. Avatar: The Way of Water will almost certainly take the award despite other near-totally animated films being both left out and more impressive, though I’d like to see The Batman win simply because it’s been snubbed in Cinematography. Who knows, maybe we’ll get an upset and Avatar will walk away with no accolades whatsoever.

A girl can dream.