Apr 05 2009
And Now, for Something Completely (3D)ifferent
This has nothing to do with print: So I offer this purely in the spirit of fun.
I don’t go to movies often; I venture out, oh, maybe twice a year, if it’s a compelling big sci-fi production. (Sometimes you just have to get away from the keyboard.) “Monsters vs. Aliens” looked like fun, but I wasn’t sure about the 3D version: would I get a headache? Would it have the brain-cramping effect of the red-and-blue cardboard glasses? Would I be deeply disappointed?
I’ll cut to the punchline: WOW!
The glasses are polarized, I suppose (darn; I should’ve kept them. But the “Recycle Your Glasses” sign was compelling so that I felt a pang of guilt, so I dropped ‘em in the canister), with gray lenses, and perfectly comfortable. The 3D effect seemed natural and realistic; there was no period of adjustment, nor a sense of “getting used to it.” It may have have helped that I went in a bit early and picked a seat smack dab in the middle of the row, about halfway back in the theater. I meant to move and see how things looked from the side, but, well, I sorta forgot to be clinical in my assessment.
Is it Great Cinema? Oh, probably not: after all, it didn’t make me cry, or send me home with a deep despondency, which it seems that Great Films are intended to do. It was cute, though, and I laughed out loud (excuse me: LOL’d) a few times. Stephen Colbert as the President is priceless, and it’s a perfectly good Do The Right Thing message flick, with sufficient amusement for kids and parents alike. Yes, the 3D shows are more expensive than the 2D presentations of the movie, but it really is worth the difference. Go have some silly fun!
