10 Worst CGI Moments From 2022 Movies

The VFX blunders that made us all wince this past year.

Morbius Matt Smith
Sony

Visual effects are so ever-present in almost every single movie made these days - even ones you don't realise - that it's incredibly easy to take it for granted.

There's no denying the incredible artistry, time, effort, and money that goes into even mediocre VFX, though as the industry stands on the precipice of a reckoning over how Hollywood treats its VFX artists, it's also clear that corner-cutting can result in incredibly lackluster CGI being released into the world.

In a good enough movie, bad VFX need not be a huge issue, though they can certainly upend a particular scene or leave audiences wincing no matter how much they like the film otherwise.

And then there are effects so bafflingly wonky, often in films which cost upwards of $200 million, that you have to wonder what the hell happened.

These 10 films, ranging from some of the best blockbusters of the past year to pure cinematic duds, all offered up true VFX eyesores: genuinely ugly moments that actively undermined everything else happening around them.

Again, it's proof perfect that as wonderful a tool as CGI is, it needs to be used in a sparing, conscientious way...

10. The Ironheart Suit - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Morbius Matt Smith
Marvel Studios

Unlike most films on this list, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is actually a genuinely good movie, especially considering the circumstances of its creation.

And while there are a number of visually stunning sequences throughout, it also received widespread criticism for several of its suit designs, and never more than with Riri Williams' (Dominique Thorne) ridiculous final Ironheart suit.

Williams shows it off briefly in the third act of the movie and, uh, it sucks.

Now, it doesn't help that the suit looks innately quite cartoonish and silly, like something you'd expect to see in a Power Rangers episode, but also in terms of pure visual fidelity, it looks poorly rendered and far from the standard expected of MCU superhero attire.

One can only hope that the suit will look considerably sharper in the upcoming Ironheart Disney+ series, because this over-designed, plastic-y aesthetic is absolutely revolting.

Then again, would it really be a Black Panther movie without some truly wretched CGI in the third act?

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.