Oscars 2011: Best Visual Effects

Note: This is my personal ranking, listed in order from best to worst, with #1 being my favorite. Prediction for the actual winner is in orange.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1. Inception

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

3. Hereafter

4. Iron Man 2

5. Alice in Wonderland

Missing: Tron: Legacy

There’s no real competition here: for its zero-gravity fight scenes, a Paris that bends over backwards, and trains barreling down city streets, Inception is a visually stunning feat, and one that will undoubtedly win. The other nominees are simply space-fillers, making Tron: Legacy‘s absence even more of a snub, as its visual gaming landscape and effects are so much more impressive than those represented by the actual nominees. Once again, a beautifully realized Harry Potter is nominated and once again it will lose. Hereafter‘s opening flash flood that violently sweeps away streets, buildings, and crowds is astonishing, but after those ten minutes, there are little to no visual effects in the remainder of the rather dreadful two-hour film. Iron Man 2 is your typical fancy-gadget flick with lots of futuristic computer work and machine suits that physically embrace the titular hero. And while Alice in Wonderland is built entirely on its very-Tim-Burton visual design, the result is dull and dreary with creepily contorted human-cartoon figures that are washed-out by their equally ugly computer-generated backgrounds. The flatness of the visual effects is equal only to the general flatness of the film itself.