Guest post: To 3D or not to 3D?

Guest-blogger, Jo Berry, is a film critic and mum of one who runs the website movies4kids.co.uk. Here she answers a question on many cinema goers’ lips: are 3D movies really worth it? 

Today, my local cinema is showing nine movies aimed at kids and families, and five of them (The Smurfs, Horrid Henry, Harry Potter, Cars 2 and Captain America) are showing in both 3D and 2D while one (Glee: The 3D Concert Movie – otherwise known as 100 minutes of karaoke hell) is only showing in 3D.

Tickets for the movies in 3D are a storming £2 more than for a regular 2D movie, and that’s not including the £1.50 you need to pay for a pair of 3D glasses. Hardly surprising then, that when mums I know are deciding to take their kids to the cinema, the first question they ask me is: “Is it worth paying the extra money to see it in 3D?”

My answer has to be, with very few exceptions, no.

While 3D has come a long way since the days of cardboard glasses with a red and green plastic film over each eye, it’s a rare film that actually uses the technology to jaw-dropping advantage. For every Avatar, in which the imaginary moon of Pandora really did seem to come alive on the screen in front of us, there is a Horrid Henry, where the 3D is used to send flying snot towards the audience. Yes, I really want to pay an extra couple of quid to see that.

It’s often kids’ movies that get the 3D treatment, especially the animated ones. But do kids think that Rio, or Cars 2, or even Toy Story 3 is that much better in three-dimensions instead of two?

All of the younger kids (under 10 years old) that I asked thought not, mainly because when I mentioned 3D most of them moaned about the glasses being too big for their faces, which can get quite annoying after 90 minutes. I also think the black-rimmed frames look pretty stupid on all grown-ups and am patiently waiting for Gucci to design a nice pair…

My six-year-old, D, certainly isn’t fussed whether Finn McMissile flies towards him or not, really, and a Smurf in 2D is every bit as cute/annoying (depending on your preference for the little blue b***ers) as in three dimensions.

Bigger kids were more impressed, especially with animated movies like Toy Story 3 that use the medium well, but quite a few mentioned one film in particular that shouldn’t have been in 3D – Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2. (“The hissing snake coming at you was cool,” said 12-year-old Ben, “but that was about it.”)

I’m not the only one quietly grumbling about the seemingly endless use of 3D, either. The lovely (and, since he agrees with me, superbly intelligent) Simon Pegg, star of Paul and one of the voices in the upcoming animated The Adventures Of Tin Tin (which will be in 3D and, judging by the trailers, deserves to be) posted a message on Twitter just after Deathly Hallows Part 2 opened, saying “the 3D on HP7.2 should be avoided. Think 3D works with animation because it gives it a dimension we haven’t seen in that context.”

He went on to write something else I wholeheartedly agree with, too: “The cinema foyer is in 3D and I can’t wait to get out of there and watch a film. 3D is novel, not evolutionary.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

In fact, I’m going to go one further and stick my head well and truly above the parapet by saying this: unless it’s got a semi-naked Gerard Butler in it (yum, 3D six-pack), I’m going to try to avoid live action 3D altogether in the hope it fades away like Smell-o-vision* before it. Either that, or I really will have to find someone who makes slightly more attractive 3D glasses…

*Smell-o-vision really did exist, for one movie, at least. When The Scent Of Mystery was released in 1960, odours were released into the cinema so the audience could ‘smell’ the movie. It was voted one of the 100 Worst Ideas Of All Time in a list for a 2,000 issue of Time Magazine.

–Jo Berry, www.movies4kids.co.uk

Check out Jo’s website of over 1,000 reviews of kids, teen and family movies, including all the new releases at cinemas and on DVD, and follow her on Twitter: @movies4kids.

About Holly Seddon

Holly Seddon is a writer, editor and community consultant and helped launched the community for Adoption UK, which won charity website of the year just 9 months later. She also writes a music blog.

• Mail
|
• Twitter
|
• More Posts(69)