3D Movies

Recently it seems like every movie worth seeing is being touted in 3D. The reason for this is simple: they can charge more for a 3D ticket and people are willing to pay it.

But is it worth it? Does 3D really add anything to a movie or is it just a gimmick?

When you talk about 3D the first movie that comes up is Avatar. I enjoyed Avatar, and the 3D added tremendously to the whole experience. Without it, I think it would have felt like a shallow film with cardboard villains and questionable politics. But the 3D helped you look past the films faults and just enjoy the moment.

So what about the more recent films? The first one I saw was Dawn Treader. I quite enjoyed the movie but the 3D didn't really make any difference, to be honest. It was nice in spots but given the choice I would have gone for 2D.

The second movie was Tron Legacy. This movie used 3D really well, even making the "real" world 2D and only using 3D when inside the computer. This was actually cool, and it added to the film. The movie seemed deep and rich in the 3D segments. So here it added to the movie and my enjoyment of it.

And then we saw Green Hornet. It was an entertaining film, and the only reason we saw it in 3D was that the 2D showtimes didn't work for us. But oh boy the 3D was not good. In fact, it detracted from the film to me, making me feel like I was reading a popup book at times.

And that's the real problem. Movies are being made into 3D that were never meant to be that way in the first place and it ends up just making everything worse. As long as the ticket prices cover or exceed the cost for conversion, we are not done with this. There will be more movies that are poorly adapted to 3D.

I can only hope that 3Dization goes the ay of colorization and the only movies that are 3D are ones that were meant to be 3D from the get go like Avatar...

Joel