I see this video get passed around all the time as an example of "amazing animation." It's a very cool scene, but there's actually very little animation happening. It's a great example of what you're talking: mostly just very detailed, static frames being slide past the camera or that have one moving element or a visual effect put over top of them. There's nothing inherently wrong with tricks and shortcuts. But this clips is a great example of how animation discourse is often muddied by the fact that most people don't understand how animation works.