Mark my words, coin the phrase and give me credit years from now when pundits look back and lament how 2010 marked the end of 2D movies for kids.
We just sat through yet another summer 3D kids movie – this one was Despicable Me with Steve Carrel. My short review of this move is that the movie is pretty forgettable, and that they made it just because they could. It wasn’t particularly funny or heartfelt, but it was cool to look at and had lots of funny side characters to keep you occupied. And yes they had the obligatory dance scene at the end.
If you kids don’t have ADD yet – they will
And as we sat in the theater for the previews, just about every one of the upcoming movies for kids is planned to be in 3D. So it is becoming apparent that Hollywood is going to give us lots more nice to look at but otherwise loud and soulless 3D movies – again just because they can.
Part of me wonders if the pull is higher ticket prices. The 3D movies now cost an extra $4 just to get in. This is not an insignificant price increase if you have 4-5 people in the family as your afternoon out just cost an extra $25 or so.
But the real reason is probably less simple. We’re Americans and we like things bigger, faster and cooler no matter what they are.
The really sad part about this to me is that these movies look nice but they seem to rely on that instead of actually making a good movie. At this risk of sounding older than I am…give me the first Toy Story or Cinderella where movie makers actually tell a compelling story and use subtle tactics to get the point across. Now everything is just loud and flashy as though that was somehow interesting for 90 minutes.
Spinal Tap for Kids in 2010
Some friends of mine who will remain nameless think all this 3D stuff is just great. And I’m reminded of the classic movie Spinal Tap when the guy says “Why didn’t you just make 10 louder” and the answer is “Because it goes to 11!”
So the Hollywood discussions must be going this same way – “Why don’t we make this one in 2D?” The answer – “Because there’s 3D.”
