Why Modern Film CGI Looks Worse: Pirates Director Spills the Truth
Pirates of the Caribbean’s Gore Verbinski reveals the surprising reason behind the decline in film CGI, pointing to a shift in technology that’s changing the look of today’s blockbusters.
Anyone who’s watched a blockbuster in recent years might have noticed something a bit off about the digital effects. Gore Verbinski, the filmmaker behind the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, has a rather pointed explanation for this decline. According to him, the culprit is the growing influence of video game technology on the world of cinema.
In a recent interview, Verbinski didn’t mince words:
I think the simplest answer is you’ve seen the Unreal gaming engine enter the visual effects landscape. So it used to be a divide, with Unreal Engine being very good at video games, but then people started thinking maybe films can also use Unreal for finished visual effects. So you have this sort of gaming aesthetic entering the world of cinema… I think that Unreal Engine coming in and replacing Maya as a sort of fundamental is the greatest slip backwards.
The Unreal Engine, developed by Epic Games, is a powerhouse in the gaming industry, responsible for the look and feel of titles like Fortnite and Hogwarts Legacy. Its reach, however, now extends well beyond gaming, with major productions such as The Mandalorian and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania relying on it for their digital wizardry.
When Games and Films Collide
So, what’s the problem with borrowing from the gaming world? For Verbinski, the issue is that the visual style crafted for interactive entertainment doesn’t always translate to the big screen. The result is a kind of digital sheen that feels more at home in an RPG than a cinematic epic. While the technology itself is impressive, its application in live-action projects can leave audiences with a sense of unreality—especially when the story is meant to be grounded.
Verbinski elaborated,
It works with Marvel films where you kind of know you’re in a heightened, unrealistic reality. I just don’t think it takes light the same way... So that’s how you get this uncanny valley when you come to creature animation, a lot of in-betweening is done for speed instead of being done by hand.
The upshot? Animations can appear rushed, and the subtle interplay of light and shadow—so crucial to convincing effects—gets lost in translation.
From Davy Jones to Diminished Returns
Verbinski’s own experience with the Pirates franchise offers a telling case study. The first three instalments, which he directed, were lauded for their groundbreaking digital work—Davy Jones, in particular, remains a high-water mark for CGI character creation. Yet, by the time the fifth film rolled around, the visual effects seemed to have taken a step back, despite the leaps in technology over the intervening years. It’s a paradox that hasn’t gone unnoticed by fans or filmmakers alike.
As the industry continues to chase efficiency and cost savings, the temptation to lean on tools designed for other mediums grows. But as Verbinski’s comments suggest, the results can be a bit of a mixed bag—especially for those who remember when digital effects felt truly magical.
Looking Ahead
With more and more productions turning to real-time engines for their visual effects, the line between games and films is blurring. Whether this trend will continue, or whether audiences will demand a return to more traditional methods, remains to be seen. For now, though, it seems the age of hyper-realistic, hand-crafted CGI may be giving way to something altogether different.