MONSTROUS QUESTION
(Monstrous Questions provided by Michael Arruda, unless otherwise noted)

Okay, we all know that today’s movies— especially genre films— are loaded with CGI effects.  Most of the time, we complain and lament at the disappointment these effects cause.  How about those TWILIGHT werewolves?  Ugh!

But love it or hate it, CGI is here.

CGI has enabled filmmakers to create amazing and outlandish worlds in today’s movies.   Some of these worlds have been impressive.  Others have looked like cartoons.

In this edition of MONSTROUS QUESTION, we asked what’s the best CGI created world(s) you’ve seen in a movie(s) since 2000?

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DAN KEOHANE answers:

No question in my mind – Middle Earth in the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy.

With a mixture of miniatures, mat paintings and CGI, Peter Jackson & company built a perfect rendition of the fan-obsessive world of Tolkien’s novels (or one really long novel, for those purists out there).  With only a few exceptions, it was hard to tell what was real and what was completely computer-generated.

Going along with that was making it look like the characters, played by similarly-sized actors, were of such different sizes (elf, man, hobbit, etc.).

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