They're Real, And They're Spectacular

Well, this is how my mind works. I was stacking firewood on my front porch. It was quite cold. Naturally, in the monotony of the task my mind wandered on to better things. It took the usual route. First it was food. Then breasts. It lingered there for a while, before switching to movies.

In the end I thought about the X-Men. They have two movies currently in production: one is the sequel to X-Men: First Class (called X-Men: Days of Futures Past) which is supposed to merge the prequel/reboot with the original trilogy. The other is The Wolverine. Both movies will feature Hugh Jackman in the role of Wolverine. And I thought, Hugh Jackman is like the definitive Wolverine. He has played the role in every X-Men feature and spinoff because not only is Wolverine everyone's favorite member of the team, but Hugh Jackman nails it. The thing is, Wolverine does not age. Hugh Jackman does. So what happens when Jackman is too old for Wolverine? I mean, he has already been reprising the role for nearly 15 years, eventually it's going to show.

I guess the answer would be to move on to another actor. It's not impossible to find someone else who could handle the role. Who knows, maybe he be an even better Wolverine. But, I've been thinking. Does that really have to happen? This is the 21st century! Nowadays, they can do just about anything with CGI. Just look at Avatar. Actually, don't. That movie was kind of stupid. Look at Lord of the Rings instead, and how Gollum is played by a dude in a green suit.

One thing they have been toying with, but haven't quite perfected yet, is creating a three-dimensional model of a recognizable human face. And they've tried a few times.  In Tron: Legacy, the character CLU was played by a body-double with a computerized model of Jeff Bridges head from a 1980s movie superimposed onto it. And Bridges did voiceover work for the part. It was mostly convincing, but obviously not a real human.There is also Terminator Salvation, which did the same thing with a model of a younger Arnold Schwarzenegger's head in order to recreate the Terminator. The only other example I can think of is actually a commercial for Galaxy Chocolate, in which Audrey Hepburn's likeness is completely artificial (and quite eerie, as she smiles and eats chocolate).

So I was thinking, if Fox owns the rights to the character Wolverine, they can make him look like whatever they want, right? Even if it happens to look exactly like Hugh Jackman? So once Hugh can no longer keep up with the physical needs of the Wolverine character, they could just make a mold of his features and create a digital model that can be used whenever they need it. I suppose he'd have to contribute voice work for a while. But it's only a matter of time before they figure out how to replicate the voice too.

My point is, just like 3D, CG facial likenesses are probably going to get used more and more, for better and worse. And one interesting use would be to keep Hugh Jackman in the role of Wolverine for another 10 or 15 X-Men movies. What do you think? Would it be more traditional/sensible to eventually get a new actor in the role? Or should the studio just say 'what the hell' and keep Jackman in the role forever? It would be pretty cinematically groundbreaking, not just technologically, but also because it would actually immortalize an immortal character. Think about it.

And for those of you who were wondering how the wood stacking went...some of it was kind of wet. And even though it's early March, there were snails and fungus clinging to some of the downward-facing pieces. That's why it's important to wear gloves.

Oh, and here's a link to the Audrey Hepburn Galaxy Chocolate commercial.