Summary

• Bad CGI moments can ruin the movie experience, distracting the audience from the plot.
• Filmmakers sometimes overestimate what CGI can do, leading to strange-looking results.
• Practical effects are sometimes a better option than CGI, as demonstrated by examples like Wolverine's claws in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Weird CGI moments can ruin movies by distracting the audience from the plot with at least one strange scene they cannot forget. CGI has advanced immeasurably in the past 20 years and is a great asset to filmmakers, especially in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. Despite how far technology has come, bad visual effects moments still appear in movies for various reasons, including lack of proper budget, tight deadlines, or other logistics interference. However, the lack of creative vision for the film can also play a role in scenes with poor visual effects.

Sometimes, studios are too confident in what can be accomplished with visual effects in post-production. For example, James Cameron is a master of world design, but he has never overestimated what available CGI software can do. Cameron waited years for the right technology to be developed before making the Avatar movies. With so much new technology now widely available, audiences are even more aware of what is a good VFX shot and what isn't, which is why some awful scenes are becoming even more difficult to ignore or forget.

15 Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern Suit

Green Lantern (2011)

Many scenes in reasons Green Lantern flopped.

14 Dwayne Johnson's Face In Another Person's Body

Black Adam (2022)

For a flashback in Black Adam that shows the title character's human form thousands of years earlier, Dwayne Johnson is made to look much smaller than his usual hulking physique. The attempt to paste Johnson's face onto another actor's body isn't properly executed, and it is not helped by the rest of the movie showing what Johnson looks like. While Black Adam is immortal and it wouldn't have made sense story-wise to hire a younger actor to play him in the flashback, it still would have looked better. Captain America: The First Avenger did it better more than a decade earlier.

13 CGI Jabba The Hutt

Star Wars: A New Hope (1997)

A scene with a human Jabba the Hutt was filmed for the original Star Wars but wasn't included until its re-release 20 years later. Jabba was a human, played by actor Declan Mulholland in this scene. Time and resources did not allow Lucas to create the Jabba he wanted in post-production, and the scene was ultimately cut. However, the CGI Jabba later inserted into A New Hope does not look as good as the version of Jabba created with practical effects in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Jabba's cheap CGI and unnatural movements look out of place in the scene with real people and aliens with prosthetic costumes.

12 Will Smith's Genie

Aladdin (2019)

Will Smith was great as Genie in the live-action remake of Aladdin, but mainly in the scenes where he is a regular person and weird CGI doesn't distract from his singing and acting. Droves of negative reactions to Smith's Genie appeared online as soon as Disney revealed what the character looked like in a trailer. Despite the best efforts of the VFX team and a quality result, Genie just isn't a character who looks good in live-action. The "Friend Like Me" sequence quickly becomes overwhelmed with CGI as Genie remains in his blue form, summoning various trivial wonders to impress Aladdin.

11 The Scorpion King

The Mummy Returns (2001)

The Scorpion King, also played by Dwayne Johnson, is notoriously regarded as one of the worst CGI moments in cinematic history. The concept itself was too ambitious, and the filming circumstances spelled disaster. Johnson was still a professional wrestler at the time of filming and didn't have the time to provide the team with much reference footage (via Collider). This meant even more of the sequence had to be created with CGI. The dramatic moment when the Scorpion King appears is instantly ruined when the audience realizes how fake he looks.

10 Wolverine's Claws

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

For the first few X-Men movies, Wolverine's claws were created using practical effects. This was changed to CGI for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, resulting in claws that were not completely in sync with his hands. The filmmakers faced a dilemma concerning Wolverine's claws for this movie: While some may believe that CGI will look more realistic, the franchise really shouldn't have changed tactics if the practical effects were working. That said, CGI was deemed necessary because Hugh Jackman accidentally stabbed others on set and injured himself many times with Wolverine's claws in the previous movies (via CBR). Fortunately, other sequels got it right.

9 Eric Bana's Hulk

Hulk (2003)

In the 2003 Hulk movie, the Hulk is bright green and looks almost like a cartoon against a realistic backdrop, while his movements also look unnatural. Eric Bana's Hulk co-star Josh Lucas believes that the technology of the time wasn't ready for the Hulk, saying (via The Playlist), "I don’t think the technology was quite where his [director Ang Lee] brain was. [...] I think the technology evolved, and he’s one of the people who pushed the technology to evolve." Lucas suggests that Lee's work inspired future VFX artists, including those who rendered better versions of the Hulk in Edward Norton's 2008 reboot and later The Avengers.

8 Dwarves In Live-Action Snow White

Snow White (2025)

A recently released still from Disney's live-action Snow White provoked negative responses online to the CGI dwarves. The Snow White controversy led some to believe that the dwarves would not be included in the movie. Disney dropped "and the seven dwarves" from the title and would reportedly include unspecified "magical creatures" that would replace the dwarves. Many were therefore surprised when the still of the dwarves was released. The characters unfortunately look too silly for a live-action movie, with uncanny-valley features and some elements derived from their designs in the original film.

7 Axl's Hologram Head

Thor: Love And Thunder (2022)

In the most recent Thor movie, Thor briefly speaks to Heimdall's son Axl via holographic communication that looks like it is from a movie 40 years older than the one it is in. Korg even says "floating head alert" when Axl first appears, as if to warn the viewers that this will be the most memorable scene in the movie. final fight with Killmonger in Black Panther, have also made clear that there is a bigger problem when it comes to blockbusters and the amount of VFX shots needed. ​

6 Legolas Getting On A Horse

Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Legolas is constantly pulling off impressive maneuvers and more impressive shots, but a CGI-rendered stunt of his about halfway through The Two Towers looks ridiculous. Legolas is standing on a hill when a regiment comes up behind him, and he pulls himself onto Gimli's horse to ride into battle in a completely implausible way. It even looks like he is going to get on one side of the horse, which still wouldn't have looked real, but then abruptly changes directions.