The Mandalorian's Coruscant Flashbacks Prove That The Volume Isn't A Perfect VFX Solution
This piece contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian."
One of the biggest mysteries surrounding "The Mandalorian" thus far is how our precious Grogu was able to survive the devastating Order 66. After all, the first season was built on the idea of the gruff Mando Din (Pedro Pascal) learning to treat the little guy as more than just an asset or cargo. It didn't matter to him how he survived, but after Din warms up and forms a true bond with Grogu, that mystery's presence slowly became more obvious. Was it fate that helped the youngling survive the Jedi purge, eventually leading to Din? Perhaps, but it also helped that the young Jedi had some assistance in his survival. He is just a baby, after all.
This help came in the form of Jedi master Kelleran Beq (Ahmed Best), who helped him get away from the Galactic Empire's clones. The actual chase might have been exciting to watch, as "The Foundling" director Carl Weathers has a great eye for action sequences. Unfortunately, these pivotal moments lose some momentum when you actually look at them. Kelleran and Grogu stand out like sore thumbs against the backdrop of Coruscant, especially when they're zigging and zagging throughout the city-planet's skylines. It might be easy to say that this was intentional as a callback to the effects of the prequel trilogy, but it ultimately just demonstrates a key issue with Disney+'s "Star Wars" series — they are relying on imperfect technology far too often.
Fantasy immersion at a price
There is no denying that Industrial Light & Magic's Volume technology is revolutionary and has mostly changed the VFX world for the better. After all, it is able to display intricate CGI landscapes in a scene while actors are actually shooting. When used right, it makes scenes feel more real, even if they are set in galaxies far, far away.
Unfortunately, when it's done incorrectly, you get disastrous results — like the Coruscant flashbacks in the latest episode of "The Mandalorian." The city skylines look murky and not fully rendered, like pre-alpha footage used to promote a video game. As mentioned earlier, they look even worse when there are real things plastered on top of them, such as Kelleran and Grogu on his speeder bike. This is by no way a dig at the visual effects artists hired by Lucasfilm to create the environments displayed on the Volume. Rather, it's the way the Volume renders these environments on-screen that makes them lose their intricate detail.
We already know that this piece of technology can't replicate some classic environments. In fact, this is something that the "Mandalorian" team itself has acknowledged. It just sucks that one of those was a space city that should look better than it did back in the early 2000s. Here's to hoping that Coruscant's renderings on the Volume result in some much-needed TLC for the otherwise great technology.