The second film in the Guardians of the Galaxy series, Vol. 2, was every bit as fun as the original. It even added a few extra touching moments to the proceedings. The soundtrack was awesome as usual.
But maybe the most amazing thing about the film, was the open, seeing a spry, energetic, YOUNG Kurt Russell running through the forest with his lady love, Quill’s mother (Laura Haddock). It was a stunning piece of digital de-aging, taking 40 years off Russell’s then 65 year old look.
Technically, there were three elements to this transformation.
1)-the make up artists applied some prosthetics
2)-the crew then digitally de-aged the actor
3)-Russell was also tasked with *moving* in a younger, more energetic manner during the scene, as body language is a huge part of the process.
Side note: interestingly, Russell was only really aware of the make up prosthetics that were applied, and for quite a while, maybe even now, he thought that was it and he wasn’t in need of digital de-aging. He even bragged about it to the crew. But according to the digital crew, he definitely got the CGI de-aging treatment, and they even used a stunt body double for some shots, with mapping dots on the double’s face, so they could put Russell’s mug on there.
Bottom line, it was incredibly well done. The tech crew associated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe is incredibly gifted with their almost human realistic characters, such as Thanos (Josh Brolin). Of course, the first feat of CGI wizardry in the MCU was the pre-formula, skinny Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in Captain America, The First Avenger. I hadn’t been that impressed with CGI since the first Jurassic Park, some 15 years earlier.
Back to de-aging, there were at least two instances I can think of with Michael Douglas as the MCU’s Hank Pym. First, they took the actor, then about 70, down to middle age for the opening of Ant-man, which took place in ’89. Then back to his mid 20’s in 1970 for an appearance in Endgame. And in each case, wherever possible, they not only applied tech and make up, but also had him move in a more youthful way, when they weren’t using a stunt double.
At the beginning of Civil War, we see a digitally de-aged Robert Downey Jr. who successfully acts like his bratty, 20 year old self. at the end of Endgame, we see Chris Evans aged up as a 100 year old Steve Rogers, and once again, Evans provides all the necessary cues to make us believe the age change, in addition to the make up and the CGI accomplishment. Ditto Samuel L. Jackson as his younger self in Captain Marvel.
Those are the proper, well executed examples. However…
Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman fails miserably in this fashion. When crafting this three and a half hour leviathan, Scorsese wanted to take advantage of de-aging tech, so Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, all in their late ’70’s, could digitally shave off decades. They mostly got away with it regarding Al and Joe. Not so with Bobby D.
Please make no mistake– I have the utmost respect for all these actors, as well as Scorsese as a director. I recently watched The Irishman for a second time. I often find that the second viewing allows you to look at the broader picture, maybe catch some details you might have missed the first time around. Unfortunately, it’s not DeNiro’s de-aged face that’s a problem. It’s his body and body language.
Scorsese should have relented and recast the under 50 Frank Sheeran. When we first meet him, DeNiro’s Sheeran is about 35. We see him start to make connections and see him commit various crimes during this time. Through it all, he looks, moves and acts like a man in his late 70’s. He also is usually acting rather befuddled throughout. The most blatant example is when he brings his young daughter to the neighborhood store, so he can confront the store owner who had pushed her.
This entire scene A) falls prey to our knowledge of how a young DeNiro would trash this guy, and still— even if you’d never seen one of his movies, or had no knowledge of the de-aging, B) the scene is almost laughable, because even though the owner is laying in the street, allegedly helpless, DeNiro barely even touches the guy, can barely hold his balance, and can be seen just *almost* kicking the guy. This was an unconvincing scene. It was so bad, I’m assuming there was no stunt coordinator attached to handle the finer points to this. The store owner/victim does everything HE can– he flings himself through the window, rolls out onto the street, and screams as much as possible. He held up his end of the bargain.
Is it possible DeNiro thought they’d also digitally induce a better beating? Seriously, I don’t know. DeNiro stated at the outset regarding the CGI stuff, that he wasn’t going to deal with any mo-cap suits, or dots on his face. It’s entirely possible that he thought the CGI was doing a lot more than it was. After all, why should Bobby D know how digital de-aging works? My mother doesn’t even do emails. Either way, this was a mistake, easily avoided and fixed by casting a younger guy for that stretch.
In the film, Sheeran is supposed to be this imposing, impressive, hitman. He’s neither of the former, and considering just how he’s presented here on film, I find it hard to believe that this Frank got the gig of the latter. Throughout most of the film, I was having a tough time picturing this stooge being anything other than a run of the mill trigger man. Competent enough to know his stuff, but the superstar mob rep status, I felt, was very undeserved, at least as far as he was presented here.
DeNiro almost seemed to be under the impression that his voice and body would be dramatically de-aged as well. I believe they attempted it on the voice, but the results weren’t impressive.
As for the body, to convincingly get the message across, he had to move better, faster, and the tech boys would have had to get rid of the hunch he’d acquired over the years. Unfortunately, that sometimes comes with age. But all that work would have been exceedingly expensive, and Marty was already in budget trouble.
So yes, as brilliant as de-aging tech is, there are limits in both quality and the financial corners.
Marty should have cast a younger Frank for that initial section. This is on him. And I KNOW. He can’t help that he’s in his 70’s. It’s by no means his fault. But if he can’t pull off the scene, cast someone who CAN. Someone who, as a younger Frank IS imposing. IS impressive. Who CAN convincingly beat the crap out of a store owner.
Hey, it worked for Godfather II.
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