Superheroes have captivated the attention of audiences
worldwide for decades. The core appeal
of superheroes lies within their extraordinary abilities, endowed upon them by
any number of sources, from radioactive spiders to godlike powers to remarkable
ingenuity. Whatever the origin story,
consumers of superhero media have flocked to theaters for over half a century
with the intention of being awed by ever-improving special effects. The last decade in particular has rekindled
the frenzy for costumed vigilantes, and vast leaps in CGI have been the
catalyst for it. Upon executing these grandiose
special effects, studios take great care to provide the utmost level of realism
possible, but more often than not, disbelief must be suspended in order to
enjoy movies of this nature. At their
core superhero films are outrageous, but at times they can push things too far-
even small things. The devil is in the
details, and while small errors regarding physics can be overlooked by most, a
careful observer is able to identify moments where the realism slips just a
little.
The Avengers is a modern
worldwide phenomenon without a doubt. In
contrast to DC’s gritty Dark Knight
series, Marvel’s series of films following Spider-Man, Thor, and Iron Man are
fun and entertaining, if a bit extreme in their action. For the most part, Marvel’s latest films have
been believable, though if we take the time to look closely at scenes from each
of these films, small mistakes in physics can be recognized.
The first film to be analyzed is the hugely successful Iron Man sequel. Tony Stark, super genius and unapologetic
narcissist, has engineered a biotic suit which grants him the ability to fly
and perform other feats which are humanly impossible. Near the start of the film he is hosting the annual
exposition of Stark Industries’ latest technology, Stark Expo. In his ever-so-flashy style, clad head to toe
in the Iron Man suit, Tony leaps from a chopper at an extreme altitude and
descends on the Expo. Plummeting at
impossible speed, he falls through a hatch in the ceiling and lands, unharmed,
in a crouch in the center of the stage.
A cool entrance, but is this scene truly realistic, even while Tony
wears his futuristic, highly advanced, robotic suit? Not exactly. The principles of momentum and
force of impact tell us that the momentum of an object depends on not just its
velocity but also on weight, or mass. To
stop an object with large momentum requires either a large force to stop the
object quickly or a small force which stops the object over time. Thus, in reality, Tony’s landing on the
showroom floor would have been more horrific than spectacular. Given that most aircraft fly at least 30,000
feet, coupled with the fact that Tony not only freefell from that altitude but
also engaged the thrusters toward the end of his descent, the speed at which he
was descending must have been phenomenal.
Even to stop him safely from a freefall of that height would have been
impossible. Realistically, falling at
that speed with such a small time of impact would require a huge amount of
force. In all likelihood, despite the
advanced nature of the Iron Man suit, Tony would have ended up as a pile of
gore amidst a twisted wreckage of metal.
The only way that Tony could have landed safely would have been to slow
his descent a great deal before landing, or to land on a very soft
surface.
Even gods are subject to physics when they visit Earth. Thor may be the son of Odin but he is
still made of flesh and blood. Toward
the end of Thor’s debut Marvel film, he has been banished to Earth and his
powers have been sapped by his jealous brother, god of mischief, Loki. Loki sends a very nasty, nigh-indestructible
metal knight creature to do away with his helpless brother. Their father, Odin,
awakens from the godly coma Loki had placed him in, and rejuvenates Thor’s
power once again. Mjolnir, Thor’s
hammer, breaks the sound barrier while rushing to return to Thor’s outstretched
hand, and he catches it no problem. A
cool moment of triumph, but is it truly realistic, despite Thor being a
god? Not exactly. To break the sound barrier, an object must be
traveling at least 761 miles per hour.
Realistically, keeping in mind the principles of momentum and force of
impact mentioned previously, even Thor himself couldn’t catch that hammer. Similar to the case in Iron Man 2, for Thor to catch Mjolnir without flinching would
require the hammer to slow significantly before coming into contact. Otherwise, in the real world, Thor would be
returning to Asgard a day late and an arm short. Being a little more lenient, a more
believable reaction would be a bit of recoil on the part of Thor’s arm, to cushion
the blow.
Similarly, in the most recent iteration of the Spider-Man franchise, Peter Parker pursues
The Lizard across the Brooklyn Bridge.
As the villain makes his way down the bridge, he flings a car off the
side and Peter struggles to save them and their occupants. Peter leaps onto the ledge of the bridge and
attaches a web to the back bumper of the falling vehicle. With the web in his hands, Peter stops the
car from plummeting into the river below.
A cool save, but is it truly realistic?
Not exactly. Despite Peter Parker’s
powers, his speedy reflexes and ability to shoot webs and climb on walls, it
would take a much greater force than simply his own strength to stop the car
from falling at that speed. Given that
an average sedan weighs over 3000 pounds, realistically Peter would have been
pulled right off the bridge with it- and maybe lost a limb or two. This isn’t even factoring in the strength of
the web he produces. Not only does Peter
stop the car’s descent but he is able to attach the web to the bridge’s
railing. A more realistic approach would
have been to make a series of webs attached to the supports of the bridge
itself.
All of these observations aside, the phenomenon of superhero
movies speaks for itself. The world as a
whole does not need absolute realism in their films, particularly ones of this
nature. In fact, absolute adherence to
the laws of physics would extract the very thing that makes them
enjoyable. It is media such as this that
reminds us to relax and believe in the power of imagination and pure
entertainment.
