Action films have entranced countless
generations, but of course reality can only bring so much to the screen in
terms of excitement and wonder. As the decades passed and film became more
technically innovative, the action genre has become more "colorful".
By the turn of the century, fantasy and action welded together and films such
as ones featuring superheroes have suspended the laws of physics to entertain
and indulge the audience. This heightened reality, however, comes at a price.
Because many of the feats the characters in these films are able to pull off
have not been attempted in real life, the filmmakers oftentimes need to test it
out themselves, only to realize that sometimes a certain action is too slow or
too quick for the general masses to notice and appreciate it on the screen. This
causes them to break some laws of physics in order to present a more
aesthetically pleasing product. A common physics problem in these recent action
films are the impossible jumps. Using the jump magnification equation (jump
height divided by push height) and the push time equation (jump time divided by
jump magnification), many characters in recent blockbusters do not adhere to
either of these equations when they are performing jumps.
In the first Spider-Man (the superior 2002 Sam
Raimi version), the audience is presented with a being who's abilities are so
supernatural, he can swing from building from building using only webs that
sling out of his hand when he positions his hands in such a way in which it
looks like a gang sign. The character of Spider-Man is also very agile and can
react faster and stronger than a regular human being. In a particular scene, as
Spider-Man races to save Mary Jane Watson from the clutches of his archenemy, the
hammy Green Goblin, we see him jumping from one festival balloon to another.
Since the web-slinging hero takes approximately a little less than a second for
his push time with a jump magnification of perhaps 20 feet, the jump time
should really be about a little less than 20 seconds. However, in the film,
Spider-man is able to jump to the next balloon in a matter of two seconds. This
does not adhere to the jump magnification and the push time found using the
equations. The filmmakers must have known this but decided to use creative
licensing and sped up Spider-man's jump time to add to the energy during his
first battle scene with Green Goblin. If Sam Raimi and his crew had allowed
Spider-Man to take 20 full seconds to leap up and slowly descend down to
another balloon for him to have enough momentum to leap to Green Goblin, it
would slow down the pacing of the action scene and the Green Goblin probably
would have already been done assaulting Mary Jane Watson.
Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon contains a similar lack of adherence to the relationships
between the jump magnifications and push times. Throughout the entire film,
characters are able to jump and even fly great distances with very little push
time. However, given that the characters often jump or fly to such great
heights, their jump time should usually be even faster for them to be able to
jump to such an extreme height. A subtle example is when Jen steals the Green
Destiny sword and is confronted by one of the bumbling guards. She jumps on top
of him for about half a second (push time) and jumps to a height of at least 5
feet into the air. The push height was relatively low so perhaps it was about 1
foot. Therefore the jump magnification would be five feet. Adding that to the
push time formula, the jump time (about a second) divided by the jump
magnification of five feet simply does not equal the push time of half a
second. In order for the push time equation to work, Jen would have to have a
jump time of 2.5 seconds which in the film is only about less than 2 seconds.
The timing in this example is a lot closer to being accurate than the one
provided in Spider-Man and it's quite surprising to find that the jump time
should have been longer when all the characters were on wires to give the
audience the illusion that these supernatural beings were flying or jumping.
There are still even other examples in the film where the push time is not fast
enough for the characters to jump to such a height, but the motivation behind
this remains the same for the filmmakers. They want the audience to feel the
push of the jump and experience the balletic movement when the characters are
suspended in the air. The accuracy of the timing takes a back seat.
The
last example is from Disney Pixar's The Incredibles. In the same vein as
Spider-Man, this film follows super beings around as they perform various
"incredible" feats. As an overweight Bob Parr tries to fend off a
mediocre version of the Omnidroid, he makes an incredible leap of about 30 feet
into the air to get over the Omnidroid and give it a nice right hook. His push
height is about one and a half feet, meaning his jump magnification would be
about 20 feet. Since the jump time was a little bit less than two seconds, Mr.
Incredible's push time should be about 1/10 of a second long. In the film, it
would have been almost impossible to notice the 1/10 of a second which was why
the filmmakers made it just a tidbit longer for the audience to feel and notice
the push time. This is the opposite problem with Spider-Man in which Peter
Parker's push time is too long for the given jump time he has in the film. Like
the example in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brad Bird's main purpose was to
show the audience the effort of the push and the flow of the jump.
Of
all the examples presented, it would be belittling to the filmmakers to believe
that they thought they had adhered to the jump magnification and push time
equations. The three crews probably all knew that that their films did not
adhere to some laws of physics but decided not to in order to heighten the
drama, excitement and action. Spider-Man's speed, Jen's athletic skill and Mr.
Incredible's mobility are all showcased at the expense of the accurate jumps.
Fantasy and animated films such as the three mentioned have always been about
imitating life, not copying it. When these movies copy life exactly, the
mundane and often stiff nature of the actions will clash with the world that
has been built in the alternate reality. Films of this sort must tweak and
sometimes alter the laws of physics to help accentuate the actions and the
world that is being created. Only then will the film be believable and yet
fantastical at the same time.
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