3D Movie Reviews

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

This is the first 2D-to-3D conversion movie I saw since Clash of the Titans. What a difference time and more experience makes! The movie had pleasant 3D cinematography that added something new and definitely more interesting to the original production. The movie had proper depth construction and was generally pleasing to watch. The depth budget was comfortable, although maybe not one of the best in terms of overall comfort. The 3D effects were generally subtle.

One of the few things I noticed was that a number of times the depth in the characters' faces as well as their relationship with the rest of the body had some minor problems, although I highly doubt that most viewers will notice it.  Regarding the action scenes, the conversion process did a decent job, as much as anyone can do for action shots since they do not offer a good immersion experience.

In general, this was a very good 3D conversion and I think this is certainly a good indicator that the 3D conversion process, when done properly, is a valid method for creating 3D movies, especially for older titles that cannot be shot in native 3D. However, I still believe the conversion process has a long way to go to become a substitute for native 3D shooting. Whether one technique will prevail against the other will be a matter of which technology comes up with the optimal quality vs. cost ratio.

Rating: 3 stars

The Adventures of Tintin

The Story: (4 out of 5)

Being an avid Tintin fan since childhood and having read The Secret of The Unicorn book tens of times, I immediately noticed two major differences between the original book and its adaptation in the form of The Adventures of Tintin movies: the extra details in the scenes throughout the movies and noticeable deviations from the story. The director decided to move away from the abstract style of Hergé's early books to create a more immersive environment for 21st century viewers, who demand such details in modern movies. After the initial minute-long disappointment, however, I found these changes to be more welcome than not. Details such as Tintin's apartment or Marlene Pike's storage room, where Sakharine kept the second copy of the Unicorn, were interesting. However, some of the smaller details did not introduce a significant added value to the story and, as discussed below, were sometimes visually unpleasant in the 3D version.

An interesting aspect of this movie was the realism of representations of the characters. It was sometimes difficult to tell whether Tintin was an actor or an animation. Such techniques re-iterate the notion that in the near future many movies may not have real actors anymore as Hollywood can soon create fictional characters that are indistinguishable from real ones. Our favorite future characters may not be humans, but rather animated creations with certain physical and emotional characteristics. The degree of improvement between the characters in Tintin when compared to the ones in The Polar Express is amazing.

3D Effects: (4 out of 5)

The 3D effects of this movie were meticulously planned and executed. Unlike many other 3D "animations", there were very little, if any, old 3D gimmicks such as throwing an object toward the audience. In some scenes, the depth and perspective were slightly exaggerated, but this did not take away from the beauty of the 3D execution. Negative parallax (objects coming out from the screen) was sometimes present on the edges of the frames, which can be visually disturbing. Some of the smaller 3D effects that are not commonly seen in animations, although ambitious, were not necessary and were sometimes quite distracting. For example, the reflection of one of the characters in a window, the simulated lens flare, and the dust particles in the air that were flying too far off the screen were all hard to resolve and mostly distracting, especially in the close-up scene where Tintin and Captain Haddock were talking. However, the idea of having dust in the path of a flashlight was very interesting and welcome, since it not only made the scene more realistic, but it made resolving the light coming out of the flashlight easier.

It is no secret that action scenes are much harder to resolve in 3D, and this movie was no exception. The fast fighting scenes on the deck of the Unicorn along with the raging sea water were slightly difficult to see in 3D when the objects were close to the viewers. In general, the water streams were not handled as well as other moving objects. Even the slightly calmer sea toward the end of the battle scene was discomforting and unrealistic, so were the closeup scenes of the water fountain at the Sheikh's palace. It may have been better to keep the action scenes deeper inside the screen (with less negative parallax) to avoid some of the discomfort, although in general the fast moving scenes were handled relatively better compared to most other 3D animations out there.

The 3D transitions were among the most creative and visually appealing parts of the 3D effects of the movie. Although using a simple crossfade transition between the desert scene (which had a large difference in depth between the top and bottom of the scene) and the night sky (which was mostly flat) was not the best idea, some other more creative transitions that mostly involved bubbles were quite interesting. Most specifically, the transition between the Unicorn scene on the sea and the puddle on the street was something unique and very pleasant to watch.

Overall the 3D quality of this movie was very good. In my opinion, the movie deserves 4 out of 5 stars for maintaining good quality 3D throughout a wide variety of scenes, and for using creative 3D effects and transitions. It should be noted that the 3D production process is quite different between animated and non-animated movies. In animated movies, producers have much better control in creating proper 3D, whereas in non-animated titles the production process is more challenging, since it requires 3D cameras as well as the right setup.

Rating: 4 stars

Hugo

This is a great film. A "must see" in 3D. This was the first real-life character production where 3D was used so effectively as part of the story. In terms of 3D production, the film was done very well. The entire movie was filled with great 3D scenes, from close-ups of characters to the detail of the machinery on the clocks. The movie was very comfortable to watch and depth was depicted accurately throughout. The few action shots were captured properly and the 3D effect added more than subtracted. The 3D shots moving through crowds were done very well and you could feel that you were part of the scene. Close-ups of characters were very good and you could feel the expressions and emotions. Overall, the way the content was shot was very good for 3D.

Overall, Hugo has set a new standard for how 3D movies can be. Perhaps something even better will come along in the future, but for now we think it's perfect.

Rating: 5 stars

Happy Feet Two

This is an animated feature shot in Antarctica where white and the color of penguins dominate the film. Although animated or computer-graphics generated stories can offer good and easy 3D production, in general they do not provide the same degree of realism as true-character stories simply because the footage is not real. I think this movie pushed the 3D effect a little bit too much. There quite a few scenes that were not very comfortable to watch. There were several panning sequences with a lot of penguins in the background that were difficult for the eyes. The shrimp scenes, however, were done very nicely. Nice colors, nice depth, and easy to watch and enjoy. There were some fun things that were added to end of film as well, where bubbles were coming toward the audience and were popping at different distances, giving the feeling that you can touch them and make them pop, which was a fun thing for the kids.

Rating: 2 stars

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

This was the first mainstream production where the 3D was done right. Most scenes used the right depths and the movie was generally very comfortable to watch. However, some of the character scenes appeared shallow in depth. It provided an immersive experience in quite a few scenes, however, it was an action-packed film and as a result, the details of the 3D environment could not be fully enjoyed much of the time.

Rating: 3 stars