Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

The misuse of action/reaction in cinema 

Films are a medium used to escape to a differently reality. They're there to tell stories and to tell stories of the impossible. As an audience, we are there to be entertain and get lost within the story , but Sometimes these films are so amazing that we tend to ignore the physics of the movie. Ignoring these laws of physics can either add or hinder to the storytelling of the movie and it's up the film makers to make such as decision. One of the laws of physics that will be discussed is the law of action/ reaction. According to Newton's third law, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Which means if I were to push someone with a certain amount of force, then I would also move back that amount as well. The three films that will be analyzed for the breaking of this law are Sucker Punch, Kung Fu, Panda, and The Justice League: The flashpoint Paradox.

Sucker Punch is a live-action movie directed by Zach Synder and was created with a lot of heavy CG effects. The movie revolves around a girl named Babydoll who is send to a mental institution by her step-father. Babydoll plans to escape with several other girls and the movie goes through many alternate worlds as she goes through the stages of her escape. One particular scene that incorrectly portrays Newton's third law is the samurai scene. She is faced with three enormous metal samurais and is told by her mentor to use her abilities to defeat these creatures. Babydoll fights the samurai with the Naginata and uses her sword to stop the attack. In the process, she is able to deflect the attack, break the samurai sword ,and jumps down from the blast unaffected. This would not be able to happen because the samurai's sword would have a greater force than Babydoll's force and thus, Babydoll would not be able to break the samurai sword. With correct physics, Babydoll would not even be able to survive the attack of the samurai's because the samurai is about 2-3 times larger than her. There is more force and weight to the creature's attack and this means that the force of the action would have cause her to accelerate to the ground so fast that Babydoll would get pummeled into the floor. If Babydoll were to jump faster and with more force then it would be physically possible to deflect the attack, but she would still be the one to accelerate more faster to the ground due to their weight differences. Although the movie's physics were incorrect, it was done in that manner to create a dramatic effect. This was a crucial scene in the movie in which Babydoll, the heroine, needed to show to the audience that she is becoming stronger. Also, the incorrect physics helped sells to the audience that this is not reality but a different alternate world.

Look at 1:48-1:55  to see the chosen scene 

As talked in the essay, The samurai is 2-3 times bigger than Baby doll and is able to inflict more force due to his size. 

In the 2008 computer animated feature of Kung fu Panda, Newton's third law is also often ignored. This animation follows a big and clumsy Panda who joins the Furious Five of kung fu masters and has to realize his true fighting potential. During the escape scene of the antagonist, Tai Long, there is a moment where he kicks three spears in the air effortlessly that the spears are able to penetrate through a rock wall. A problem with this sequence is that Tai Lung does not look strong to kick all three spears in the air because the three spears are heavier than him. Another problem with this sequence is the missing recoil from the kicking of the spears. If Tai Lung's kick is powerful enough to send spears into rocks then there should be a equal force of reaction. Due to this missing recoil, it almost looks as if he is being held by wires as he is kicking them in the air. Applying it to Newton's Third law, Tai Lung would have fallen to the ground with the impact of the first spear. These spears look heavier than him and just from the first impact of the fist spear would have him descending down into the ground. In addition, the pull of gravity would have sent him down as well. In order for this action to really happen then Tai long would have needed to increase his speed and force in order to send the spears through the rocks. A main reason that this part of the scene's physics was ignore was to add dramatic effect. The film makers wanted the dramatic character of Tai Lung to have mass ,and to feel like an intimidating and invincible character who can do these law defying kicks. This is also a Kung Fu animation so the laws of physics are ignored to add that comedic effect and animated feeling.

For to the chosen scene, please go to 1:08- 1:15 

As discussed in the essay, the spears are heavy and have metal on the top so it wouldn't be possible for Tai Lung to kick the spears without any recoil. 

Another common mistake in films occurs in the Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This animation film is an adaption of the 2011 comic book book called the “Flashpoint”. It starts off with the Flash creating a ripple that alters the universe which causes the flash and a group of superheroes to work together in order to fix it. The certain scene that incorrectly uses Newton's third law is when Cyborg uses his gun to fire against Aquaman during the fight scene near the end of the movie . In this scene, Cyborg would charge his cannon and send Aquaman flying a couple feet away, but there is no recoil from the cannon that he shot from. If a laser cannon has enough force to knock a man off his feet then Cyborg shouldn't be able to stand still like that. There should be some type of reaction pushing Cyborg back whenever he uses his cannon like when a firefighter is blasting a hose of water. There is also a problem with the recoil of the guns in this movie. This also occurred in scenes when the Grifter used his gun during his death scene. There isn't much of a recoil from the gun and if correct physics was applied ,then there would be more of a recoil. Upon further examination, I came to the conclusion that the reason why there was no recoil on cyborg's cannon is because the creators wanted to make Cyborg feel intimidating and the strong type of character who can withstand recoil. Another reason is to keep the pacing of the movie fast so that the audience will not get distracted from the realistic shooting. The shooting is not a vital part of the scene and I feel that it was a good choice on the directors part to ignore the recoil.

For the chosen scene, please go to 0:38-0:40

Here is a screen shot of Cyborg shooting his Cannon with no recoil. 

Here is a scene of the Grifter's death and how the recoil of the gun is barely there. 

Overall, there are many movies that ignore Newton's Third law of action/ reaction. Sometimes it can be a mistake or something it can be deliberate like the three movies mentioned. In the Sucker Punch scene, Babydoll is able to reflect the giant Samurai Nagingata because the movie needed to show that she was getting stronger and to sell the world that she was in. Kung Fu Panda's needed to sell Tai Lung's strength and abilities by having him be strong enough to kick spears into the rocks. Finally, The Flashpoint paradox, ignored the recoil of guns in order to not distract the audience ,but to also show the strength of the characters. This goes to show that ignoring the laws of physics can help not only the characters but also make a film that much better.

*Note to Professor,

the only thing that I deviated from the outline was that I changed the character of Batman to the Grifter.