The Case for Benjamin Button

Let me start out by saying that I think the visual effects in both The Dark Knight and Iron Man are stunning, and that the artists behind them did a superb job.

That said, I think that this year's award for Best Visual Effects needs to go to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, hands down. Whether or not you liked the movie (I personally loved it), it's hard to deny the visual effects accomplishment.

The effects for the big blockbuster superheros are rehashed summer after summer. Certainly, they get more and more refined every time around, and both Iron Man and The Dark Knight were very well executed. But there was little that we haven't seen before. We've seen superheros, explosions, vehicles, and action sequences a million times. The effects practically jump off of the screen.

But the accomplishment of Benjamin Button is something different entirely. Here's a film where nine out of ten people can go see it and not realize it contains a single shot of CG (discounting the two very brief war scenes). When in fact the main character is CG for the majority of the movie. Leaping over the much discussed uncanny valley is one thing. Becoming seamless is another step entirely. A CG human character that is indistinguishable from live action.

I enjoy an action-packed visual effects spectacle as much as the next person. But when state of the art effects can be integrated to tell a story, the results are something special.

In a way, if Benjamin Button fails to win the Oscar for visual effects, it's almost that much more of a tribute. A film with visual effects so good, that nobody even notices they're there.