How do you make a bad film worse? Make it 3D!

Barging its manic and monotonous head onto a screen near you, the third dimension of film is costing you more (and making you a likely candidate for Blade’s doppelgänger). But with the promiscuity of the over-used and over-it 3D in question, every Tom, Dick and Harry of the film biz is taking it around the block.
3D used to be a niche novelty. And I blame Avatar completely for tarnishing what used to be visually orgasmic experience.

James Cameron's Avatar, the reason we are suffering
today. Photo courtesy of xyeshu via Flickr

Sure the equation adds up. A wide, whirling world of colour plus an epic display of special effects must equal 3D. But the problem seems that while Avatar, (which was primarily designed to be a 3D experience mind you), was an excellent contender to adopt the 3D tagline, I physically pull my hair out when films possessing the slightest shred of any special effects feel they are worthy of 3D status.

When films such as Step Up 4: Miami Heat and Disney’s mega-flop Mars Needs Moms start to mess around with the once sacred 3D, the profit hungry cinema distributors are merely rehashing shitty 2D films (Burton’s Alice in Wonderland anyone?) to cash in on the gimmick.

While The Guardian journalist, Mark Kermode jests that “(3D cinema) is the 21^st century equivalent of the snood”, he also joins the club of film-fans-against-film-trash.

Don't they look stupid? Photo courtesy of NASA Goddard
Space Flight Centre via Flickr

“The thing these movies have in common is that they are essentially trash – they are perfectly suited to the phoney-baloney gimmickry of 3D,” he writes.

“It is a con designed entirely to protect the bloated bank balances of buck-hungry Hollywood producers.” Amen Kermode.

Yet by and by, while Hollywood money hunger will forever be the demise of quality cinema, I beg filmmakers to consider the craft of 3D over the gimmickry of it and at least stamp the dreaded 3D on something with substance.

How do you feel about 3D films? Tedious or tremendous?