After pandemic delays saw most major studio releases punted to 2021, last year’s race for Best Visual Effects was all but devoid of the usual slather of popcorn blockbusters that annually compete for this prize. But we’re back in business this year and it’s likely to be another battle of superheroes, creature features, and the return of a groundbreaking franchise that won this prize over 20 years ago.
Way out in front at this early stage is Paul Lambert and the team of over 250 visual effects artists who brought Denis Villeneuve’s Dune to life. Lambert is a two-time winner of this prize (Blade Runner 2049 in 2017 and First Man in 2018) and Dune is the kind of sci-fi epic the Academy generally eats up. The race might already be over before it’s even begun.
If there’s anything that could put a stop to the dominance of Dune, it’s the currently-unseen The Matrix Resurrections. While the film won’t be unveiled until its world premiere on December 18, the pedigree of the original film is hard to ignore. Back in 1999, it won this category in a shock upset over Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace and there’s every chance that could happen again this year.
Also in the mix are the usual slew of comic book adaptations in the form of Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Black Widow, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and The Suicide Squad plus a plethora of delayed blockbusters including Free Guy, Jungle Cruise, and No Time to Die. And let’s keep an eye on Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up, dropping in early December. With its apocalyptic narrative, it should be a visual effects bonanza.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS PREDICTIONS:
1. Dune (Warner Bros.)
2. The Matrix Resurrections (Warner Bros.)
3. Eternals (Disney)
4. Godzilla vs. Kong (Warner Bros.)
5. Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony Pictures)
IN CONTENTION
Black Widow (Disney)
Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
Finch (Apple TV+)
Free Guy (Disney)
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Sony Pictures)
Jungle Cruise (Disney)
No Time to Die (MGM)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Disney)
The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros.)
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Sony Pictures)
