All
movement is partially defined by the physical laws of momentum and force of
impact. The momentum of an object in motion depends on the velocity and mass of
the object, and the faster an object’s momentum the more force is necessary to
stop its motion. If an object has a large momentum, it must impact either with
a large force that stops it quickly, or a smaller force applied for a longer
amount of time in order to stop moving. These laws are often manipulated in
films to create cooler, more dynamic effects – it is a manipulation often found
in fight scenes to make the impacts within the fight more visually interesting
to the viewer. “Comic-style” films – films that are based on comics or have a comic
book feel to their visual storytelling – are some of the biggest offenders of
this manipulation. The films Kick-Ass,
Zombieland, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World all have instances of incorrect physics
with varying degrees of success. These movies ignore the laws of momentum and its
subsequent force of impact for extra dramatic effect in key scenes; however,
unless this physics manipulation fits into the physical world described by the
rest of the film, this action will appear wrong and out of place.
The
film Kick-Ass is based on a comic
book by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. This movie tells the story of a teenager
named Dave Wizewski, who transforms himself into a real-world superhero by the
name of Kick-Ass, despite having no super powers of his own. Due mostly to his
own naïveté, Dave gets caught up in the very real battle between Damon Mcready –
whose superhero persona is known as Big Daddy – and drug lord Frank D’Amico.
Along with Big Daddy’s daughter Hit-Girl and D’Amico’s rogue son Red Mist, the
film culminates in a final showdown of good versus evil in which the vigilantes
naturally walk away victorious. While there are obviously many fight scenes in
a movie entitled Kick-Ass, there is
one scene that particularly stands out for its shockingly bad physics. In the
climactic battle, just as Frank D’Amico is about to kill a weakened Hit-Girl,
Kick-Ass returns to the fray with a gigantic bazooka gun. He fires, hitting D’Amico
and blasting him out the window – where he continues to project along with the
bazooka shot well out over the streets below – before the eventual explosion
occurs. According to the law of momentum, an object as big as a bazooka rocket
would have a large mass, as well as an extremely high velocity once fired from
the weapon. Upon hitting Frank D’Amico, who also has a large mass, the bazooka
should have exploded instantly – as one would assume such a weapon would do. Rather
than exploding on impact, the bazooka “pushes” Frank as they fly out the window
together, horrendously breaking the law of force of impact. Further, this scene
also breaks laws of falling and gravity, because when Frank and the bazooka a
projected out through the window they move in a straight line, when really
their movement should be a parabolic arc. This scene is quite jarring because
it does not fit into the physics of the film, as the film is set in real-world
New York City with characters who are normal people. Because the world built in
this film generally follows the physics of the real world, it makes no sense
for explosives and projectiles to behave this way.
Flight of the Bazooka
Zombieland is set in a post-apocalyptic
America, after the majority of the country and its people have been destroyed
by a mutated strain of mad cow disease, which ultimately became a “mad zombie
disease.” While the film is not based on a comic book, it is told like one with
voice-over narration and graphic elements to go along with the storytelling,
such as when main character Columbus presents the rules for dealing with
zombies. The plot of the film follows Columbus on his journey to reunite with
his family, along the way joining fellow survivors Tallahassee, Wichita, and
Little Rock, and ultimately ending up at the supposedly zombie-free Pacific Playland
in Los Angeles, California. Before meeting the sisters, Columbus and
Tallahassee travel together, revealing Tallahassee to be quickly violent
towards zombies. In one scene, the pair enters a grocery store that has been
overrun by zombies. In order to entice the zombies out, Tallahassee picks up a
banjo and begins to strum the infamous Deliverance
tune. This draws a zombie out of hiding, and a fight ensues. The zombie and
Tallahassee both have the large mass of a human body, and both begin to run at
each other full-speed, creating a high velocity momentum; however, when at
impact Tallahassee smacks the zombie’s head with his banjo, a large force
impact, the zombie head and banjo are both unharmed. With such a large force of
impact, the banjo likely would have broken and the zombie’s head would have
been visibly injured. As explained in the vampire stake demo, a fast, large
force acting on a hard object like a human skull would result in physical
damage; however, in Zombieland the
zombie is just knocked down. The zombie doesn’t sustain any real injury until
Tallahassee stops and directly his him repeatedly with the banjo. Because Zombieland is set in a near-future
America, it should demonstrate real-world physics. This scene definitely breaks
the law of force of impact, considering a large-force impact stops a
high-momentum movement without any visible damage to either party. Also, while
oftentimes similar stories will have zombies experiencing different physical
responses to the real world, Zombieland
does not demonstrate any sort of altered sense of physicality created by the
zombie virus. Throughout the film, the zombies mostly react physically to
attacks the same way a healthy human would, so the zombie being unaffected by
such a blow to his head in this scene does not make sense in the film’s
universe.
Zombie has a pretty mouth
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is one
instance of a film where a manipulation of physics actually works in the movie’s
favor. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is
based on the graphic novel series Scott
Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Scott Pilgrim, bass guitarist of the band
Sex Bob-omb, meets the elusive Ramona Flowers and is instantly infatuated with
her. After much obsessing over her the two begin to date, and shortly after at
a battle of the bands Scott learns that in order to date Ramona, he must first
defeat her Seven Evil Exes. Each evil ex has their own unique superpowers and
all prove a challenge for Scott, with her seventh and most evil ex, Gideon,
being the most difficult battle of them all. Once he earns the “Power of
Self-Respect” sword in the epic final showdown, Scott is able to defeat Gideon
and pursue his relationship with Ramona. The film carries a video game motif
throughout, including coins for winning battles and “extra lives.” The film
displays a large manipulation of physics in Scott’s battle with Ramona’s first
evil ex, Matthew Patel. Crashing into the middle of Sex Bob-omb’s battle of the
bands performance, Matthew – a high mass body – rushes through the air at Scott
with a very high velocity; however, Scott is able to stop Matthew’s
high-momentum attack with only his unflinching hand. Further, there is no
reaction to the force of impact being acted on Scott through the halting of
Matthew’s motion. The law of inertia suggests that an object in motion will
remain in motion, meaning that upon impact Scott should have naturally reacted
to Matthew’s forward movement with a backwards-moving recoil. Scott’s hands and
feet represent a small force that could not possibly stop Matthew’s
high-momentum attack so quickly, especially with Scott remaining in a static
position throughout. While this battle clearly breaks the laws of momentum and
force of impact, it actually does fit within the realm of the film. The video
game motif used in Scott Pilgrim
allows the filmmakers to play with the film’s physicality. Each of the battles
with Ramona’s Seven Evil Exes breaks the laws of physics in different ways, but
because each fight is presented as a video game battle the exaggerated physics
actually make sense.
Scott stops Matthew with a single elbow
More often than not, the altering
of physics will feel like a mistake that will take a viewer out of a movie. While
erroneous scenes from Kick-Ass and Zombieland create comic effect, they are
also clearly physically wrong to an audience, even if they can’t explain why.
For example, most viewers wouldn’t recognize the lack of a parabolic arc in Kick-Ass, but they would intuitively feel
that it is wrong; however, this instance of strangeness creates a funny moment
that almost mimics a Looney Tunes
cartoon. But if a manipulation of the physical world is done within the
constraints of a films established universe, it can actually help to enhance
the film. This physics play works in Scott
Pilgrim vs. the World because it fits into the theme of the movie, and is
clearly done deliberately. If an artist or filmmaker is going to deviate from
the natural laws of physics, it must be done purposefully and with scrutiny,
and when done right this can actually produce a film with new, fabulous, and
fun results.
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