Eye Candy: The Best Visual Effects From The Last Year

The VFX teams on these 20 films created monsters, giants and aliens — and gave filmgoers several white-knuckle moments in 2016.

- Carolyn Giardina

Comic book heroes (and villains) dominated the VFX shortlist announced by the Academy on Dec. 2 in the guise of the films Doctor Strange, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Captain America: Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse. Also making the list were such visually dazzling films as The Jungle Book and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the sci-fi pics Arrival, Passengers and Star Trek Beyond. Even Kubo and the Two Strings made it through — a rare animated film to make the shortlist.

ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS 

Disney 

Based on Lewis Carroll’s characters and directed by James Bobin, this film involved more than 2,100 VFX shots covering the “design and creation of even more new and unseen worlds, where we had to walk that fine line between impressionistic fantasy and photo reality,” says VFX supervisor Jay Redd.

ARRIVAL 

Paramount 

To create an unexpected look for Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi film, VFX supervisor Louis Morin designed a CG spaceship that was as sleek as a polished stone. “The Montana base camp was extended virtually and populated by a CG battalion,” says Morin. “CG aliens were created to have whale-looking skin, no anthropomorphic features, seven legs and to float and interact with their misty environment and communicate using liquid shapes.”

BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 

Warner Bros.

The VFX work included the final battle in which Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman team up to defeat Doomsday, a fully CG character. To ground the film in reality, the team combined practical stunts, sets and filmed locations with the visual effects, including a 3D version of Gotham City. To create Doomsday, the 3D model included exposed muscles, tendons and bones.