It might sound like a little more nitpicking, but in light of people bringing up the Scorsese movie, The Irishman, it has to be brought to mind once again that the CGI that people want to think was so impressive… wasn’t. Plenty of people were of the mind that the de-aging process that was enacted during the movie made an amazing difference in the appearance of each actor, when in truth, it feels as though Scorsese was hoping that people might have never watched any movies with Pacino, Pesci, or De Niro as younger men. Granted, Joe Pesci has looked a bit old for a while, but The Irishman didn’t do much when it came to making either of the three men look any younger. The thing is that a lot of people know what these guys looked like in their younger years, and the de-aging process did nothing to bring any of that back. If anything, the program removed a few wrinkles and other lines on their faces, giving a slightly more youthful look to the men they are, while ignoring what they looked like years ago.
At this point, it’s not really worth going into the idea of how each individual Scorsese used didn’t even look like their real-life counterparts since from their height to their facial features there were a lot of discrepancies that are forgiven since this is something Scorsese is well known for. The famed director has retconned history a couple of times in his long career, and each time people have praised him for it, and rightfully so. His stories come off as highly effective even if they don’t necessarily follow history and they end up using parts of actual history that are a lot of fun even if they veer off the documented tracks now and then.
When looking at the CGI it’s kind of hard to see how it might have been deemed effective since looking at how the light plays on the faces of those that are given use of the program, it just doesn’t appear right, as their faces almost appear to glow at times as the shadows were not taken into account as well as they could have been. Plus, as I already mentioned, their faces were still the same, apart from the removal of wrinkles and other features that come with age. It would have made far more sense to take their images from earlier movies when they were still fairly young, rather than just use the program to smooth out a few features brought on by age. But it still wouldn’t have worked, and there’s another reason that’s been pointed out by others: their bodies are still those of their older selves. I know, I know, it’s picking at a movie that’s already been there and done that since it’s been pored over by so many people. But it does feel as though the reputation of the director and the actors helped to carry this movie more than the actual effects and the story, which is fictitious in a lot of ways.
The characters were real enough and did exist, but the things they did, said, and the moments they shared in history were taken and jumbled up just enough by Scorsese to make things a bit more interesting. But the de-aging didn’t help the fact that De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino are still older men who were going to act and sound like older men. Like it or not, this was bound to happen since there’s no way to wind the clock back in a convincing manner that would make each man appear to be decades younger. If anything, the movie had to limp along while entertaining the thought that men who were supposed to be far younger would move about like men that had seen the passage of time, rather than the younger men they were portraying. Maybe it was meant to be ironic, or maybe it was a hope that no one would focus on this and simply enjoy the story, and it does appear that Scorsese managed to convince people to do just this.
That’s why nitpicking this movie feels a little pointless at times, that and the fact that many thought it was well done. But the thing is that this is one of the poorer uses of CGI in the modern era, no matter how much people wanted to claim otherwise. Scorsese certainly knows how to tell a story, but his attempt to use CGI in this movie wasn’t exactly a success. De-aging software might be considered to be one of the most impressive bits of technology that still has a way to go before it’s able to be used extensively. When you know what someone looked like during their younger years, it’s kind of expected that de-aging software would be able to get close to that image.
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