Science fact or Cinematic Fiction?
What do super heroes movies have in
common? There is a hero, a lover, a psychic friend, a vilain, and of course
lots of actions. Those super heroes movies such as The Avengers , Superman, or
Scott Pilgrim tend to break laws of physics in order to dramatize an action,
also called cinematic fiction. If a movie was non-fiction or based on a true
story, then it is important to follow the rules of physics, otherwise the
viewers will think that it poor editing or a science fiction world. For
example, conservation of energy is constantly changed to make a hero more
powerful. According to Physics, the laws of conservation of energy state that
energy can not be created or destroyed but transferred from one object to
another. Down bellow are scenes examples of how the law has been broken.
1. The Avengers-Captain America's
shield
There is a scene where 3
superheroes are in a forest and Captain America and Thor are getting into a
fight and Thor throws his hammer to the captain. The hammer hits Captain
America's shield but instead of knocking it out of his hand, the shield absorbs
the energy and repels the hammer as well as the other super heroes. What makes
this shield unique is that it is composed of Vibranium, Adamantium, and a third
element which gives it’s strength properties. The energy force that was applied
on the hammer transmitted on the heroes who fell 6meters back. If this scene
was reproduced in real life, the hammer would have probably landed on the floor
(considering of it's mass) and if it knocked the shield, the shield would have
fallen on the floor.
2.Spiderman-Sandman fight
In that scene, Spiderman is in a
truck fighting against Sandman and throws a punch in Sandman's stomach.
Spiderman's hand goes thru his stomach because he is made of sand however, the
energy of the punch is not equal to the energy of sand that flies of Mr.
Sandman's stomach. It seems that the sand is projected at a very high speed
like a rocket. Surprisingly considering the force that was applied by the
punch, Sandman does not fall backwards nor collapse, but just stand in the same
position. Because of laws of energy, the punch would have created a different
reaction and thus less sand flying of the villain’s back. This scene was
meant to show the strength of both characters: Spiderman’s punch and Sandman’s
protection.
3. Scott Pilgrim-First fight with
evil ex
I personally (sorry to say this)
did not like Scott Pilgrim movie because I taught the acting and plot was
cheesy and cliché. However I thought it would serve as a great example to point
out the errors in physics. In the video above, shows the first time Scott
Pilgrim encounters one of Ramona's first ex (Matthew) and needs to fight
against him in order to keep Ramona. The movie is meant to look like a live
action comic book which is why most of the action are exaggerated and
punctuation marks appear. Scott is fighting the first ex and throws a Drum
cymbal towards his enemies' face (while randomly floating in the air). The
cymbal hits his head without leaving any bruises and then Matthew does a
backflip in the air. What should have happen since Scott trowed the cymbal with
great energy, Matthew would be looping a second time and moving backwards
instead of the same spot.
It is common for super hero movies
to break the laws of physics such as conservation of energy to emphasize an
action. If a hero is trowing a punch to it's enemy, the villain it will fall
further out than it should because it is showing the strength of the hero.
Exaggeration in action is needed to create this style of cinematic fiction.
