3D: overrated

I'm not one for jumping on new technologies. I am one, though, for trying out things sooner or later, to have a reasonably well-founded opinion. Quite often the things I try without high expectations turn out to appeal to me as little as anticipated. I tried listening to Johnny Cash, I tried watching a rugby game, and neither I desire to do again. I had never seen a 3D movie, because these tend to be Hollywood blockbusters. A movie by Michael Haneke is not going to have significantly more impact in 3D than in 2D, but something with lots of action and CGI is. But I must admit, I was somewhat curious.

Then "Gravity" came out. And many of my friends loved it. And I know that means nothing, but it did occur to me that if you would want to see one 3D movie and one only, it might as well be one playing out in space, as it is space that you get extra. And Tom hadn't seen it either, so a plan was born. We'd go see it! Another PhD student joined.

It was interesting to see the effect. It does add something to a scene of George Clooney bobbing around a space station. And the imagery was amazing! But the story wasn't. (Spoiler alert!!) Being the sole survivor of a space accident is spectacular enough for me. More than enough. But then making it to another space station, which ends up a heap of scrap metal, and moving to yet ANOTHER space station, which ends up as some cinders, is overdoing it. And then making it to Earth anyway, but landing in a lake, into which the capsule sinks down without delay (would they really design them like that?), making it out of the capsule, sinking like a brick, managing to get out of the space suit, and then almost getting entangled in an aquatic plant before - of course - making it to the surface alive is really overdoing it. And it doesn't help if they insert a sob story about a dead child, which is entirely improbably as I don't believe NASA would send people with such evident traumas into space. The characters stayed paper-thin, and the explosions and other potential causes of death just kept on coming.

Quite a lot of this movie wasn't very likely but needed to be able to collect this heap of threats, but there was the added annoyance caused by the trade-off between credibility and the opportunity to have a Hollywood actress show some skin. Astronauts wear more than a vest and pants under their space suits. But you can't if you're Sandra Bullock.

I'm glad I now know what the fuss is all about, but it's not for me! I want to see "Amour" next...