As de-aging has become a common component of movies now, it’s used in a number of different and original ways. Whether it’s to create a flashback scene in a decades-old cinematic universe or to simply cast a terrific actor in a role that they would have otherwise been too old to play, the effect has become a filmmaker’s deus ex machina.
With technology constantly developing, the de-aging technique is vastly improving. However, it doesn’t always have the same result. Movies released today could have de-aging effects that are photorealistic, whereas others could just as easily look like playdough.
Best: Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Captain America: Civil War places a lot of focus on Tony Stark and his relationship with his parents. In a semi-flashback scene in a seminar where Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is explaining some new tech, a scene plays out from decades beforehand between him and his parents.
The sequence is not only emotive, but the result of a teenage Tony is resounding, proving that there’s more to Civil War than just the great action sequences.
Worst: Captain Marvel (2019)
Captain Marvel is almost a buddy cop-type movie, as it follows the titular character (Brie Larson) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) trying to track down the Kree. Being set in the 1990s, Fury is more than 20 years younger than he is in the current MCU movies, which means having to drastically de-age Jackson.
Though it might be more jarring because it’s close-up throughout the whole movie, instead of just a couple of scenes here and there, many fans feel that Jackson’s face looks completely rubbery. And though he might look like he’s in his 40s, many thought he still runs like he’s in his 70s, which might be why the movie is considered one of the worst MCU movies according to Metacritic.
Best: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (2018)
As the movie follows a character with a strange disease that makes him age backward, the special effects were a make-or-break for the success of the movie.
However, leave it to cinematic auteur David Fincher to pave the way for incredible de-aging techniques. Being somewhat of an opening act, as it was one of the first movies to do it, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button has some of the best effects that are mostly unrivaled, even more than a decade later.
Worst: Gemini Man (2019)
With Ang Lee being something of a leader in CGI, as the filmmaker directed the stunning Life of Pi, he returned to push the envelope even further with Gemini Man, as it’s about Henry (Will Smith) who is being hunted down by his younger self.
Only the movie wasn’t as successful as the director’s previous hits, and it was one of the biggest box office bombs of 2019, mostly due to how amateur the CGI looked. On top of that, the premise had already been done in Looper to much better effect and without the need for CGI.
Best: It: Chapter 2 (2019)
As the first It movie, one of the best Stephen King adaptations, follows a group of kids, and its sequel follows those same characters decades later, there are some flashbacks to what unfolded after the events of its predecessor.
As kids physically grow up so much within the span of a year, some de-aging was required for them to look the same as they did in the first movie. It: Chapter 2 features arguably the best use of de-aging ever, as the effect is completely unnoticeable, even when audiences are actively looking for it.
Worst: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
This one might not be completely fair, as the effect was in its formative years, but even so, many critics feel that X-Men: The Last Stand features some of the more ghastly de-aging techniques in movie history. With a scene portraying Professor Charles Xavier as decades younger than he actually is, the effect makes him literally look like an egg, as he has the smoothest round bald head.
The series, unfortunately, has a history of bad de-aging, as audiences would see Xavier’s uncanny valley egg-head again in Days of Future Past, which is a much better movie, only with just as bad CGI.
Best: Ant-Man And The Wasp (2018)
Ant-Man sees Scott Lang getting mentored by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and one of the greatest things about the movie is the terrific late-career performance from Douglas. As the actor’s career peak seemingly came in the 90s, it was a blast from the past to see the actor look 20+ years younger in the first movie, and it looked incredible.
But with Ant-Man and the Wasp introducing Pym’s wife, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer,) it wasn’t just Douglas who was de-aged. Pfeiffer looked incredible too, and the results are the best to come out of the MCU.
Worst: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Rogue One features several bad examples of poor de-aging technology. Though she is the character with the least screentime, the movie features a surprise cameo from Princess Leia, but with her puffy cheeks and expressionless features, the character looked completely airbrushed and not at all like Carrie Fischer.
But the most insulting of all was the appearance of Grand Moff Tarkin, which isn’t so much an example of de-aging, but a complete CGI recreation of the character, as Peter Cushing passed away in the 90s. Though his mouth was moving as he was talking, it looked completely unnatural.
Best: The Irishman (2019)
When it comes to de-aging in The Irishman, there are both good examples and bad examples, as the movie has the most extreme use of the effect out of any other movie ever released.
At times it can be jarring, as Frank (Robert De Niro) at his youngest in the movie doesn’t look totally right, but on the other side of the coin, Jimmy (Al Pacino) and Russell’s (Joe Pesci) younger selves are almost indistinguishable from the real thing. The Irishman was partly a huge experiment and it definitely paid off.
Worst: Tron: Legacy
Tron: Legacy is one of the older movies to try de-aging techniques with CGI, as the sequel comes 28 years after the first movie. With Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) having been trapped inside a digital world for that long, there is still a version of him that’s no older than he was in 1982.
This led to one of the most hilarious renderings of a character in the history of cinema, as the model is almost like a caricature of Bridges and it looks nothing like him.