The Thing About 3D?

Over the Christmas holidays, I naturally engaged in copious amounts of film viewing, both at home and at the cinema.  Films like Tron, The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Inception got me thinking about the relationship between special effects and all the other elements of a film, such as plot, setting or character.  Now, with the dawn of 3D, how is one meant to include these special effects without sabotaging the rest of the film?

There has always been this awareness of the potential for special effects to ruin the rest of the film, recent examples could include the Transformers franchise.  It is all the more apparent, however, with the recent surge in 3D technology.  Although there have been such films as Avatar, in which the 3D is seen as integral to the film itself, many other films have been released only with the view to cash in on the 3D craze.  Shrek 4, being one example, is a totally un-needed sequel that has a weak plot and lacks any of the originality in terms of comedy that the first Shrek brought so brilliantly to the fore. Some films, such as Clash of the Titans, were not even filmed in 3D but had 3D added as an afterthought, leading to harsh reviews from critics.

Two of the films I went to see this holiday in 3D were The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Tron.  I don’t have any strong negative feelings about the Narnia film; there is some beautiful scenery and the newest addition to the cast, Will Poulter from the Channel 4 series School of Comedy, steals the show.  Nonetheless, while it is visually stunning, the plot lacks any momentum or coherency; it feels more like part of a series than a film in its own right, but perhaps this is partly due to nature of the book itself.  Then there was Tron; a ground-breaking film in terms of the technology, it is amazing to watch and even better to listen to (I have been listening to the soundtrack by Daft Punk all week).  I did really enjoy Tron, but the plot was very basic and predictable, with the characters being lost underneath their fancy costumes.

With these examples of films that seem to sacrifice important elements of the film for 3D, it comes as a bit of a worry to hear rumours that the next remake of The Great Gatsby may be shot in 3D.  Perhaps, though, we can try see a positive side to this.  Maybe by moving 3D out of action and fantasy films, 3D can move closer to being the norm.  If this is so, perhaps the novelty will wear off, meaning it will not be focused on too much and thus not overshadow the rest of the film?

To continue this thread of potentially positive thinking, I would like to end with Christopher Nolan, who I think, being an unashamed fan, finds the appropriate balance between state of the art effects and brilliant stories.  Inception is probably one of the most mind-boggling films you will ever see but also one that is visually impressive. When I say the latter, I have the scene involving Joseph Gordon-Levitt flying through a corridor in mind. Now, of course, Nolan has always refrained from using 3D deliberately and so this would initially back up the previous points that 3D is, usually, film suicide.  However, 3D comes under the general category of special effects and I am arguing here that Nolan combines special effects with a good film script perfectly.  Thus, perhaps there is hope for 3D out there if film producers can figure out how to achieve that much sought after balance.

Roisin O'Brien