Fictional films always find ways to defy all logic and belief. Pilots dogfight through space in wonderfully designed fighter ships. Skilled gunmen dodge bullets with high speed grace. Superheroes leap tall buildings in a single bound like they are taking a small step. One of many constants found in films is the force exerted on people and things due to gravity. On Earth, it is pulling people, animals, and objects down at the constant acceleration 9.8 meters per square second. Despite this, filmmakers find ways to make their character defy gravity in creative ways. Dreamworks’s Shrek from 2001, Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle from 2004, and Warner Bros. Animation’s Justice League: War from 2014 all have scenes where characters ignore gravity’s pull. By defying gravity, characters from these films feel more impressive, fantastical, and godlike.
Shrek follows the misadventures of the titular character in his journey to rescue a princess and reclaim ownership of his humble swamp property. The scene in question happens after the princess is rescued from her tower that was guarded by a fire breathing dragon. The princess, Fiona, fends off a gang of bandits with high-speed kung fu combat a la The Matrix. During the fight, she jumps into the air to kick two bandits on opposing sides of her with a split kick. All time stops for the camera to circle Fiona and stops in front of her, while she is still frozen in mid-air, then time commences so she can flip her hair still frozen in mid air. I can forgive a camera move that occurs when time comes to a standstill, but Fiona’s defiance of gravity is obvious. If Fiona wanted to keep her hair in proper order, perhaps she should have put it up in a tight bun. I believe that Fiona is able to defy gravity by way of magic. Shrek takes place in a world where fairy tales live in a massive melting pot. In the end of the film, magic is the ultimate deciding factor because Fiona is cursed. Fiona may have been able to harness the capabilities that the curse bestowed upon her and, one, learned kung fu and, two, learned how to manipulate time and space, thus indirectly controlling gravity. Even with all that our physical world has to offer, her feat of impossible physics is, for lack of a better word, impossible to achieve. In the same kung fu-vein as Shrek, Stephen Chow’s character, Sing, finds a way to use gravity to his advantage in combat.
Kung Fu Hustle is a kung fu satire that pokes fun at the tropes of the film genre. The story follows Sing in his internal battle with his conscience. At the climax of the film, Sing has awoken his hidden kung fu talent to face the villain in one last fight. Throughout the fight with the villain and his henchmen, Sing makes big leaps to throw flurries of punches and kicks that move so fast they leave after images. In those big leaps, Sing doesn’t take a huge wind up to push off of the ground nor accelerate back down to the ground. He floats about as if he were on the moon while his opposition does not float. Sing’s newfound mastery of kung fu would presumably give him improved reflexes and knowledge, but not the ability to object to gravity’s will. To finish off the villain, Sing jumps so high he reaches his apex above the clouds, makes eye contact with a bird, and makes his descent to connect a gigantic Buddhist Palm strike. Sing moves so fast that his shirt, and only his shirt, burns up in flames. Both of these examples make it seem as though Sing has control over gravity itself. He manipulates it to cushion and amplify the speed of his many descents. What is more impressive, is that Sing didn’t learn kung fu through time, hard work, and instruction; Sing was mutilated to the point that he underwent enough stress to became a kung fu master. He healed his wounds, gained incredible skills, and also learned how to take advantage of gravity itself. Another character comes to mind that also has similar capabilities. One could say that he is “Super.”
Justice League: War is an animated film adaptation of the formation of the Justice League in DC Comic’s “New 52” universe. Batman, Green Lantern, Shazam, Cyborg, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Superman join together to bring down the supervillain, Darksied, and his army of aliens. The ensemble learn how to fight as a team throughout the film and eventually force Darksied into a Boom Tube portal and back to his planet Apocalypse. Shortly after his arrival, Darksied fires his homing eye lasers, yes homing, at the Flash and Superman. Both attempt to outrun the lasers with their respective powers; the Flash literally outruns the laser and Superman flies and ultimate gets struck. Superman has incredible agility in flight as shown in this scene. He is able to make sharp 90 degree turns, leave a motion blur in his path, break windows that he flies close to, and moves as fast as the Flash runs. The reason he gets struck is because the Flash outsmarts the laser while Superman simply tries to get away from it. His futile attempt still impressive. Before Darksied, fires his eye lasers, Superman is standing on the ground. To take flight, Superman simply leans in the direction he wants to go and he is instantly in flight. He doesn’t get a running start, jump in the air, nor wind up in place. Superman simply “goes.” Unlike my other two examples, I was able to find out why Superman can fly. It was revealed that his body was built to withstand the higher gravity of his home planet of Krypton and he can create a monodirectional gravitational field that pulls, or pushes depending on how one looks at it. So with little effort on Earth, Superman is meant to bend gravity to his own will.
All of the characters I have noted violate the laws of gravity to gain a strategic advantage in combat. These three, specifically, are grandiose as opposed to being subtle. Something can be said about filmmakers bending the laws of physics in their films. If a character unintentionally does not follow the laws and principles of physics, that film loses breaks its immersion leaving audiences asking questions instead of yearning to see what happens next. So, if a law or principle, like gravity, is ignored, then a large and intentional feat can be made by a character. In doing so, audiences will be left in awe.
