My Bloody Valentine 3D
If you want to see the My Bloody Valentine re-make, please do yourself a favor and go see it in 3D and 3D only. 2D will not cut it. My Bloody Valentine 3D makes an excellent and fun use of the 3D format up until the last 10 or so minutes of the film, perhaps because it is hard to utilize 3D when people are running a lot.
If you’re a fan of the original film, expect a somewhat severe departure from the original story. As a fan of the original film, the departure from the original story is what disappointed me the most after the ending. While it continues to be a story about (mostly) working people in their twenties, they’re no longer miners. Axel is a sherriff, Sarah still works in a grocery store that she possibly owns, and Tom is an ex-miner/depressed Bruce Wayne-type cos his daddy owns the mines where only some of the action takes place. The backdrop behind the murders is more of love triangle, police procedural, and trying to forget your past type of story instead of a love triangle and feeling that there is no escape from a small, one-industry town type of story.
And no offense to Tom Atkins, but your movie may have a problem when Tom Atkins is the only good actor and the only actor who seems to be elevating the other actor’s performances in the entire movie (I guess this is why he gets the most impressive 3D bit). Kevin Tighe’s smirking is fine for Road House and Lost, but he constantly looked like he was on the verge of laughing in this movie, and he could never find the level of smarm appropriate for his character, who didn’t need to be smarmy anyway. But because Kevin Tighe tends to play smarmy types, I guess it had to be there. As for the Battle of the CW Network Stars, I think former Dawson’s Creek cast member Kerr Smith may take the advantage over my current TV crush, Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles. Smith is actually somewhat intimidating as Axel, even if that intimidation is mostly based in anger or jealousy or being on a power trip as the sherriff. His behavior is the only reason why anyone would suspect him as the killer. Ackles though, I’m not quite sure what was up. I wasn’t expecting Dean Winchester exactly, a character who at least uses humor to disguise some of his brooding, but for an actor who has played brooding characters for quite awhile, I was getting nothing from him. It could be taken as someone who is numb from all the tragedy in his life, with the help of prescription drugs, or it’s just nothing. For the leading actor in the movie, he wasn’t given a lot of screen time it seemed like, but of course the 3D is the star of the movie anyway. Jaime King was at least okay. It’s not like I’m crazy enough to expect fantastic acting in a slasher movie or a slasher movie re-make, but I do expect the bad acting to at least not be extremely noticeable.
I am now wondering if the 3D work was so dazzling afterall, if I’m having such a problem with the story and the acting. I know there was a definite point in the film where I started to feel disappointed, which I admit may be in part because of my fondness for the original film. The film and story go on way longer than it should have, and it was too drawn out. The ending leaves it wide open for a sequel, which makes me think “be careful what you wish for”, since I used to wonder why the original My Bloody Valentine did not have a ton of sequels behind it, since I think it is a superior slasher film to Friday the 13th. There are enough 3-D sequences in the film that are impressive, and it is used beyond just having the pickaxe protrude from the screen (although that one is used pretty often) – the director actually uses 3D to frame the shots in interesting manners.
Yo!
I actually saw this at the theater! With my wife!
My wife actually likes to see movies, but she tends to be antisocial-ish/”once I’m home, I don’t feel like going out” type person, so this was a rare event for us/me.
A great amount of incentive came from having one of the Winchester boys starring in a movie.
Thus, chances are very good we’ll see FRIDAY THE 13TH as well, later this month (She draws the line at renting that Jared Padelecki “Thomas Kinkaid” movie. Besides, her preference definitely leans towards Dean).
We didn’t see it in 3D, however. She was afraid the effect would make her nauseous (Imax movies do that to her).
Also, neither of us saw the original.
I thought it was alright.
I felt like I was missing some of the story, however, possibly because I hadn’t seen the original.
I found it disorienting seeing Harry Warden’s killer so soon in the movie. In fact, I expected it to be revealed as a dream equence, but then I realized, no, he’s actually on a killing rampage already.
I thought the strongest sequences in the film were:
1) the one featuring the blatantly naked actress, which was charmingly old school. Towards the end of the sequence, I was rather impressed by the actress’s performance considering all the stuff she had to do naked.
And 2), the scene with Jaime King and the mistress in the supermarket when they’re attacked.
The rest of the movie seemed okay, more or less.
That whole ending “setting up a possible sequel” was really contrived and awful. I wonder if it was tacked on as an afterthought because it really didn’t make any sense, for a variety of reasons, as to how that worked out.
But, I’m just glad I saw this in a theater instead of years later on DVD!
Yeah, Dean’s my favorite too.
Actually, the theatre my boyfriend and I saw MBV3D at ran a couple of trailers in 3D before the movie, I guess to acclimate people to the experience. There was a lengthy trailer for Coraline. It took me a few minutes to get used to it, cos I leaned over at one point and told my boyfriend “I think I’m freaking out a little.” 3D isn’t so bad once you get used to it. It definitely gets used less the later the movie wears on.
I though the part at the hotel with the naked lady was good. She and the little person who ran the hotel were definitely the most interesting people in the movie, but unfortunately died almost as soon as they were introduced. I think the only other part I liked was Tom Atkins’ 3D death.
Admittedly, re-watching the restored/director’s cut of the original MBV recently, I had forgotten how they sort of set the original up for a sequel, albeit in a way more creepy and haunting way. The re-make’s sequel set up was awful.
We might go see the Friday the 13th re-make this weekend. I’m curious about it mainly because I don’t care for the original that much.
I’ve seen a clip of that Thomas Kinkade Christmas movie that Jared Padalecki is in and it was awful. He was crying and Peter O’Toole was just making a “WTF?” face or a face like Jerri Blanks’ dad in Strangers With Candy. I can’t decide which.