The 11 Worst Examples Of The Uncanny Valley Effect In Movies

While CGI and visual effects have seen countless amazing advancements over the years for filmmakers, the issue of the “uncanny valley” in movies has been a challenge to overcome. In terms of filmmaking, the uncanny valley refers to a certain stage in animation advancement that renders a creepy or unsettling quality to human characters in movies. The idea is that the ability of animation reached a level that was too realistic to look like a cartoon anymore, but not realistic enough to look completely human, thus falling into the uncanny valley.

The effect has been satirized and criticized among critics and movie fans for years with some movies that relied on the relatively new motion-capture technology making the uncanny valley even harder to ignore. However, the uncanny valley is simply a result of the advancements in technology encountering some growing pains. There are great movies that have featured examples of the uncanny valley, and while the effect cannot be enough to ruin a movie, it certainly doesn’t help.

11 The Hulk

Hulk (2003)

Years before the MCU, Oscar-winning filmmaker Ang Lee brought Hulk to the big screen. While the movie was a box office disappointment and received a mixed reaction from fans, in recent years, Hulk has been praised for its inventive take on the superhero genre. However, one thing that has not aged well is the graphics for the Hulk himself in certain sequences. The movie stars Eric Bana as Bruce Banner, the mild-mannered scientist whose exposure to gamma radiation turns him into the powerful beast.

Hulk came out at a time when superhero movies were only beginning to be popular and the visual effects were not quite at a point where they were believable. This can best be seen in sequences in which Hulk is rampaging through city streets. The effects make the character look more like a stop-motion creation, like the original King Kong from 1933, as he appears of place in his environment, has jerking movements, and the people around him don’t believably interact with him.

10 The Photorealistic Talking Animals

The Lion King (2019)

While the uncanny valley was initially identified thanks to the graphics behind human characters, The Lion King remake proved that animal characters can be just as off-putting when brought to life. Continuing with the trend of Disney remaking its classic animation movies as live-action, The Lion King retells the story of young Simba who loses his father and must come to terms with his destiny to become king of Pride Rock.

The effects in The Lion King are impressive as they animate photorealistic animals, from lions to baboons to warthogs. However, real animals don’t talk and sing so adding those qualities to the realistic-looking animals is what gave the characters their uncanny valley look. The effect didn’t deter the audience, though, as the film was a massive box office hit, and the upcoming prequel Mufasa: The Lion King continues to use the same effects.

9 Tiny Tim

A Christmas Carol (2009)

Robert Zemeckis is a filmmaker who has stumbled into the uncanny valley more than most, and while A Christmas Carol is his most effective use of motion-capture filmmaking, it is not without its issues. This retelling of A Christmas Carol uses the transformative power of motion capture to turn Jim Carrey into the elder Ebeneezer Scrooge, a self-centered businessman who is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve in an attempt to get him to change his ways.

Scrooge is the most effective character in the movie because he looks the least realistic. All of the work done to animate Carrey as an older man gives him a more cartoonish face. However, the issues come with the other human characters, like Tiny Tim. Especially seeing him next to Carrey’s Scrooge, the contrast highlights the uncanny valley effect more vividly.

8 The Arnold Schwarzenegger Cameo

Terminator: Salvation (2009)

Terminator: Salvation was the first movie in the Terminator franchise that did not feature Arnold Schwarzenegger as the lead. However, while Oscar-winner Christian Bale stepped in as an exciting protagonist, the movie couldn’t avoid referencing the iconic original actor. Bale plays John Connor in the movie, which takes place in the future as humanity continues to fight for their survival.

While Sam Worthington is the main Terminator character, there is a sequence in the climax where John encounters an early version of the famous T-800. However, Schwarzenegger doesn’t return for this cameo, and his younger self is instead rendered with CGI. What was meant to be a crowd-pleasing moment is more likely to take the audience out of the movie as it looks like a video game rendering of the classic character. The movie seems to recognize the effect doesn’t work as T-800’s skin is quickly melted off, leaving only his robot skeleton.

7 Grand Moff Tarkin

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

With the advancements in technology, one of the most controversial uses in movies has been recreating the likeness of deceased actors in order to bring back some of their iconic characters. One of the first big movies to pull this off was Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which brought back Grand Moff Tarkin decades after Peter Cushing passed away. The movie is a prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope, detailing the mission to steal the Death Star plans, so the Rebels can take out the Empire’s greatest weapon.

Though Tarkin only appeared in the first Star Wars movie, he is an iconic villain in the Star Wars franchise and it makes sense that he is involved in this story. However, using Cushing’s likeness becomes a big distraction in these scenes. Unlike most CGI-created characters, Tarkin is meant to be a human character who interacts with other real actors, making his digital face hard to ignore.

6 The Scorpion King’s Final Form

The Mummy Returns (2001)

Dwayne Johnson got his first leading Hollywood role in The Scorpion King, but he originated the character in The Mummy Returns. Johnson appears in the prologue of the sequel as this fearsome and ancient warrior. The Mummy Returns sees the heroes from the original movie attempting to stop the villainous Imhotep who seeks to resurrect the Scorpion King and use his army to conquer the world.

The climax of the movie sees the Scorpion King return but as a monster who is half a giant scorpion and half a CGI Dwayne Johnson. The reveal all but destroys the big climax as the character looks like something walking out of a video game. While Brendan Fraser defended The Mummy Returns‘ effect, they would have been much better off simply bringing Johnson back without CGI or having it be a fully CGI scorpion monster without the human face.

5 The Main Characters

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within had the distinction of being the first feature-length movie to use motion-capture technology to create its characters. In that sense, it became a test subject for what works and what doesn’t with the new technology. The movie assembled a star-studded cast, including Alec Baldwin, Donald Sutherland, Ming-Na Wen, and Steve Buscemi in the story of the fight for the survival of Earth after it has been taken over by alien phantoms.

When the movie first came out, it offered a momentary thrill of seeing this new approach to animation. However, that could not sustain an entire film, as the characters have lifeless and emotionless faces, which makes it hard to connect with the story. The ambitious attempt to bring this technology to mainstream filmmaking led to Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within becoming one of the biggest box office bombs of all time.

4 The Feline Characters

Cats (2019)

While The Lion King ran into the uncanny valley by having realistic animal faces unable to emote like humans, they at least avoided the mistake that Cats made. The adaptation of the famous Broadway musical follows an ensemble of stray cats as they gather for an important celebration where one of them will be selected to ascend to a new level of being and return for another life.

Cats was a notorious flop with audiences and critics, being called one of the worst movies of all time by many. A large part of the complaints were aimed at the misguided decision in how to bring the cat characters to life. The critters were CGI characters with the human faces of the actors superimposed over them. In the end, they looked like neither cats nor humans.

3 Ray Winstone’s Viking Hero

Beowulf (2007)

Robert Zemeckis returned to the motion-capture world with a decidedly less family-friendly story. Beowulf is an adaptation of the classic epic poem about the titular Viking hero who is called upon by a kingdom in need to take on a vicious beast known as Grendel who has killed several people in the land. However, in taking the task, Beowulf must confront his own legendary legacy.

The animation allows for an epic and brutal Viking movie that can be quite thrilling during the action sequences. However, the human characters are once again unconvincing creations that show the limitations of the motion-capture technology at the time. The most detrimental example of this is the main character himself as Ray Winston’s voice presents a powerful and commanding performance that is betrayed by the lifeless animated face the character is stuck with.

2 Young Kevin Flynn

Tron: Legacy (2010)

It has become a common thing for movies to use modern technology to de-age actors and make them appear younger. The MCU has used it on several of its stars, from Robert Downey Jr. to Michael Douglas to Samuel L. Jackson. Those effective examples show how far this technique has come since Tron: Legacy. The long-awaited sequel follows Kevin Flynn’s son, Ray, who receives a message from his long-lost father which leads him into the virtual reality world of The Grid.

Along with reprising his role as Kevin Flynn, Jeff Bridges is also de-aged to bring the villainous Clu to life. Given that Clu is a digital recreation of Flynn, the fact that he is not entirely convincing isn’t as much of a problem within the virtual world of The Grid. However, the movie makes the mistake of using the same approach to show a younger Flynn in a flashback in the real world where the video game look of the character immediately looks wrong.

1 The Entire Cast

The Polar Express (2004)

Robert Zemeckis first used motion capture in a feature-length movie for the animated Christmas movie, The Polar Express. Based on a children’s book of the same name, The Polar Express follows a young boy who is beginning to lose his faith in the magic of Christmas. However, when a train arrives at his house on Christmas Eve, he is taken on an amazing journey to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus.

While the movie features some breathtaking animated sequences, such as the one-take shot following a floating ticket across the wintery wonderland, the human characters don’t work at all. The children all feature the dead-eyed look that was a constant problem in these early motion-capture movies, giving them expressionless faces even when surrounded by so much magic. Tom Hanks plays multiple roles in the movie, but his natural charm is lost in the uncanny valley of his characters.