July 27, 2004
Fantastic Four's Thing Will NOT Be CGI
According to an article on SciFi.com The Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm / Thing will NOT be a CG created character. Actor Michael Chiklis is quoted saying, "I did not want to do this if Ben Grimm was going to be a CGI [character]. If he was going to be done in the way that the Hulk was done, then I felt that I would be wasted. And I was assured from the get-go that that wasn’t going to be the case. And I was thrilled."
I really want this film to work, and it's good to see that Chiklis, at least, is invested in his character, but I just can't shake the feeling that this is a train wreck waiting to happen ...
Posted by John Campea at July 27, 2004 12:21 PM
Comments
Posted by: Rodney at July 27, 2004 01:29 PM
Well, hopefully they paid attention to Hellboy ... Perlman's not nearly as large as they made him look and those prosthetics were pretty impressive ...
Posted by: Bubba at July 27, 2004 01:51 PM
I think he will do a fine job....if you have seen the Shield....he has the acting chops and plays a great pissed off character....
Posted by: jason at July 27, 2004 02:11 PM
I agree with Rodney. I saw the Thing from the Corman version. He looked ok, but it wasn't what the Thing should looks like. I have my reservations since the Hulk looked so awful but it's the only way to do it properly. (plus rocks are easier than skin)
'I felt that I would be wasted.' Wow I can't believe he said that. Wasted like andy serkis?
Posted by: the_Clar at July 27, 2004 11:06 PM
Well The Thing would hardly have anywhere near the performance of Gollum. He really would be wasted. He's a physical performer and there are nuances that don't transfer well to 3D (I doubt the 3D depth of Gollum will be seen again for a while). You have to think though, the fact that it will not be a CGI character doesn't mean they're not going to enhance the presence of the character through computers. This is 2004. They're not going to glue nerf rocks to his face and spray paint him orange. I think it will work and even Chiklis face has the general Thing shape (just take out the nose. Hmmm.. Blue screen it out?). What I don't have faith in is the idea of doing it as a comedy or changing the Doom storyline. Never even read the comics but I've heard both storylines and the comic just sounds better.
Posted by: Mantiss at July 29, 2004 12:45 PM
Don't discount what can be done with prosthetics, Mantiss ... the glued a bunch of stuff onto Perlman's face and painted him red for Hellboy and he looked amazing. Only digital work on his character was some stuff with the tail from time to time. Abe was completely natural, as well. If you've got a good makeup team prosthetics can be made to look completely convincing, and they allow for a better range of expression than CG typically does ...
Posted by: Bubba at July 29, 2004 01:36 PM
Personally....i think....that most studio executives would shy away from using CGI characters on existing comic book characters after Hulk....considering what happened.
Posted by: jason at July 29, 2004 03:58 PM
No I think you're absolutely right. I was more thinking about, you know, the power rangers type prosthetics. My point was really that if a big studio is making this movie and this decision they'll make it work and I don't think it's a point to get worried about.
Posted by: Mantiss at July 29, 2004 04:00 PM
I cant help but thinking that a NON cgi Thing will just look like a reject from the Power Rangers show. Styrene foam outfits on overly exaggerated movement actors waving their arms around.
How can they hope to make the Thing big enough with just a costume?
What's next? Mr Fantastic's stretchy limbs will be visual tricks and camera angles? sigh