Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Bolt! in 3D

I took my kids to see Bolt the other day, Disney's latest CGI feature. Not a Disney/Pixar film just Disney and it seems that Disney CG may be finally making a mark of it's own. It was thoroughly enjoyable for me as well as the kids. The skewering of Hollywood (smarmy agent, pigeons who write) were all spot on and the dog who thinks he really has superpowers plot was fun. The acting was nicely done and I quickly forgot that John Travolta was the voice of a cuddly little dog. The only thing that I found annoying was the whole 3D aspect. I guess we could have seen it in regular good old-fashioned 2D but I figured it would be much more fun watching a movie with uncomfortable plastic glasses on my face. There really was no reason to see this in 3D. Yes, maybe it was slightly crisper and nice to see some of the detail in 3D but there was nothing in the film making that seemed to make it tailor made for 3D and that's fine.
The only truly good use of 3D I ever found was in the Muppets 3D show at Disney MGM where a little CG character comes up to your face and says you are the only one in the theater he is really talking to. That was clever and great use of the gimmick. Worst use of 3D ever? Captain EO. That is the closest I ever want to come to seeing Michael Jackson up close and in person. Why hasn't he sued his plastic surgeon yet?