10 Times Movies Should've Used CGI

As much as it's often suggested that CGI is overused in modern cinema - and honestly, that argument's not always wrong - it is nevertheless an extremely powerful and effective tool when used by people who know exactly what they're doing.

Executing marquee movie moments practically in-camera is great and all, but tangible effects also have their distinct limitations, even if filmmakers might not always want to admit. Sometimes going digital is better for the end result.

And so, inspired by this recent Reddit thread on the very subject, we come to 10 times that movies absolutely should've used CGI instead of the practical effect they ultimately settled on.

Though practical effects tend to feel more tactile and "real," they can't do everything as well as a computer can, and where certain subtleties are concerned, it's better to leave it to the brilliant digital wizards working in post-production.

These movies certainly didn't fail because of these moments - well, most of them didn't - but these scenes would've benefitted from getting it done in post rather than fastidiously committing to doing it during shooting...

The fact that Orphan prequel First Kill didn't release until 2022 - some 13 years after the original cult horror flick - created a major logistical headache for the production.

After all, the original film's twist was that nine-year-old Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) was actually a 33-year-old woman with a rare hormonal disorder which caused her to resemble a child.

Isabelle Fuhrman was herself around 11 years of age when the film was shot, and by the time the prequel got shooting, she was 23 - quite legitimately an adult woman in her own right and in no way resembling a child-posing-as-an-adult.

In a rather unconvincing attempt to get around this hurdle, the filmmakers simply used in-camera tricks to try and make Fuhrman pass as a younger, shorter person. These included forced perspective camerawork, having her adult co-stars stand on platforms, having Fuhrman stand on her knees, and making her wear contact lenses to make her eyes appear larger and more childlike.

Yet ultimately the effect is pretty laughable, because Fuhrman, bless her, doesn't look like a kid anymore.

The production would've benefited immensely from some digital de-aging instead, yet it's fair to assume that the obviously tight budget probably couldn't accommodate such chicanery.