3D.... Too much of a good thing

*Steps up on soapbox*

Seriously, the use of 3D in films is getting out of hand. If they weren't shot for 3D, they are being transferred for 3D. And all I can think is 'STOP IT'

Not every movie needs to be in 3D. Certainly not some craptastic little Michael Bay movie that horribly dishonors all things Transformers.  I'll stick with my 1980's traditionally animated Transformers movie thank you very much Mr. Bay. Filled with some great actors like Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack, and none other than Orson Welles voicing the Transformers. You know, not the Even Steven's upstart Shia Lebouf who always seems to have a love interest whose lips are so swollen she looks like she just got hit in the face. Granted I do give Michael Bay credit for bagging the original and one and only Peter Cullen to voice Optimus Prime but that is about all the credit he gets.


Anyway, back to the point. Enough with the 3D. And I know that sounds strange coming from me, but really if Hollywood continues to oversaturate the market with 3D, people will just get sick of it. Why do they never learn?

Case in point. Terminator 2: Judgement Day. A liquid metal man who could morph into other people and sharp objects and stuff like that. We all thought it was cool when we first saw it on screen, but eventually people got sick of it cause everybody had to do it. Everybody needed morphing in their movie.

Now back to Michael Bay and the Transformers movies. The first one was good, I admit that. But for the sequels, they seemed to just become an excuse to blow shit up and there was no story of any kind.

We saw this also with Tron: Legacy. Looked great visually and was also in 3D.  No story structure of any kind. The movie sucked basically.

Now as a part of my major, I have been through several film making and storytelling classes, some focused on script writing or non linear vs. linear storytelling and the like. But the one that will always stand out is the cinematography class. I was really taught how to tell a story by using the camera. And the one thing that was always drilled into my head in that class was that if it doesn't serve the story, then don't do it. 3D does not serve the story and a film if it is truly great will still be great without it.

Personally, I blame George Lucas. Okay, it's not all his fault, but it certainly is rooted with him and the Star Wars prequel trilogy. I love Star Wars just as much as everyone. And I was probably one the few people who thought The Phantom Menace was a kick ass flick with a great storyline. Seriously, Darth Vader as a little boy. Doesn't get much more scary than that. That was a stroke of genius on Lucas' part cause it made his turn to the dark side that much more chilling knowing that we had seen him as a little boy.

Then came Attack of the Clones, very visual effects heavy. I mean damn, there was nothing in that movie that did not have a blue screen or green screen somewhere for digital set extensions or for the sake of blowing shit up. Seriously, the number of visual effects shots in the The Phantom Menace was somewhere around 800. With Attack of the Clones, it doubled to 1600. And the story was somewhat lacking in Attack of the Clones. Coincidence, I think not. Thankfully Revenge of the Sith sort of rebounded and toned down the VFX and focused a little more on story.  Lucas had to get that one right or he would have been lynched by geeks from all over the world.

Anyway, this set off a trend of people making their movies with as much VFX as possible and naturally as such, the storytelling suffered. Then came the stereoscopic camera which I love and believe it is an excellent story telling device when used properly. But for now, it seems it just being used for the sake of making as many movies as possible be in 3D. Enough. I want to see Hollywood get back to telling stories, not making everything in 3D and with a shit ton of VFX and CG just for the sake of it being there.

Story is key. Everything else is meant to serve the story. 

And here is one more thing that needs to stop while I am on this little rant. Senseless and needless sequels.
Pirates of the Caribbean 4. Not needed. I loved the trilogy and it had a nice ending that brought everything full circle. Leave it alone at that point. Stop seeing dollar signs at every turn Hollywood!!

There is also rumors going around about a Toy Story 4. And all I can think is please don't let that happen. Toy Story 3 had the perfect ending and brought all the character's as far as they could go. There doesn't need to be anymore Toy Story films and if there is my faith in the great and mighty Pixar will be shaken.

Which brings me to another point. Cars 2. I personally think the first Cars movie was the weakest of all the Pixar movies and feel that weakness has only been beaten by the sequel. Don't make a sequel to the weakest film in your canon, please.

And then comes prequels. This also needs to stop. And I also blame George Lucas for this. But back to Pixar, there are plans to make a prequel to Monster's Inc. And all I can say is NOOOOOOOOO.... much in the same way Darth Vader did when he found out he killed Padme thus destroying his menace and ability to scare people just by entering a room forever. And this seriously has me concerned about where Pixar is heading.

Pixar... just focus on Brave cause it looks bloody awesome.

And there are remakes. Which also need to stop. If you are going to remake a movie, remake a shitty film and make it good. Quit remaking films that were already good or in some cases great. If it isn't broke, don't fix it.

So in summary, enough with the 3D, unnecessary sequels, prequels, and remakes Hollywood.

Story and originality is where it's at and everything else comes second to that.

I now step off my soapbox.

Thank you for tuning in and good night. :-)