Films With an Extra Dimension

They have a few 3D cinemas here in Singapore, so I thought I'd take the opportunity today to see what all the hype was about. Unfortunately, the only thing on in 3D was "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", so I had to go and see it. Unfortunately, I had already seen in in 2D, but I was hoping that the extra dimension would improve it! It didn't! At least I'd be in a good position to note the differences between the 2 versions.

I didn't know exactly what to expect as I went in with my winter clobber on (they really overdo the air conditioning in cinemas here!). I was rather excited as the girl handed me the surprising robust Dolby 3D glasses with the slightly tinted blue and red lenses. That meant I had 6 eyes looking at the screen, but I soon got used to it! Now, because 3D works by projecting a different image to each eye simultaneously (which the brain merges into one 3D image), I was worried that 3D wouldn't work at all or very well for me because of my lazy eye. I basically only use my left eye, except for my peripheral vision to the right. However, I can happily report that it appeared to work. I can't say if it worked as well for me as a normal sighted person though, as I had no one with me to compare notes with.

I don't know if I expected to be in the centre of the action or what, but I found the whole thing a bit gimmicky and useless. It failed to add anything worthwhile to the story or to the enjoyment of the film. You understand why there are so many scenes of objects coming towards the camera(s) once you seen it in 3D though. Things like tape measures, yo-yos, birds and sails do appear to jump out from the screen into the space between you and it. Occasionally, depending on the angle, the actor appeared closer than normal also. And that was about it really, for me anyway.

Overall, given my excitement beforehand, I was distinctly underwhelmed and would re-assure you film buffs stuck in 2D land that you really aren't missing much...yet!