16 Biggest Oscar Upsets Of The 21st Century

12. Best Visual Effects - Spider-Man 2

Mystic River Oscar 2004
Columbia Pictures

The Rightful Winner: I, Robot

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy showed the world that superhero movies aren't just for nerds. Toby Maguire's earnest performance and some fairly impressive special effects gripped the world with Spidey-fever; the side effects of which unfortunately didn't include arachnid powers.

While the second instalment was an entertaining watch, there was no way it should have beaten I, Robot in the visual effects category. The fact that the majority of the budget went into Alfred Molina's robot arms was made very noticeable as soon as anyone was lifted into the air and suddenly appeared to be flailing in front of a large projector screen.

I robot
20th Century Fox

I, Robot may have had its fair share of flaws but one thing it did right was the special effects. With its innately Sci-Fi setting, there was unavoidably going to be heavy VFX usage and the creative team pulled off something that's still passable today (especially when held up against whatever The Asylum is churning out).

The world created by Alex Proyas and his team was much more interesting that what was going on within it. That is, aside from the emotions they were able to convey on Sonny the robot's face which was groundbreaking at the time.

Sorry Spidey, you may have snuck in and stolen in, but Will Smith's android adventure deserved the Oscar much more than you.

Contributor
Contributor

A pop culture mad writer from the North East who loves films, television and debating them with whoever will listen. Follow me on Twitter @Johno_Patterson