Let this serve not only as a movie review from a converted skeptic, but also as a review for the experience at Polaris's Rave Theater. Skip to the end for the movie comments.
If you haven't been to Rave at Polaris, you should. It's a great place to watch movies with amphitheater seating, comfy seats, mostly clean floors and bathrooms and the armrests go up and out of the way if you're sitting with someone you like. Essentially you get a social setting similar to your living room couch but you also are immersed into a big screen and great sound for the total experience. It's about as intense as I can get since IMAX makes me sick. Nice place, especially for big movies.
The crowd. Well, I think I accurately described to Chris earlier today that a majority of them were either creeps, or jerks, or prepubescents and their helicopter parents. Besides obnoxious jeers and "spells" shouted out at each other throughout the nearly 2 hours that we sat waiting for the movie to start, the crowd was generally ok. They weren't too rowdy, besides some acting going on down front and center. This was the ultimate people-watching experience.
In retrospect, I would've like to get out and walk just before the movie started. I got really sore and tired of sitting just about 3/4 of the way through the movie. The movie was about 2 hrs and change, plus ads, we got started on time and were out and home by 3.00 am. Now, mind you, this also included some crafty manipulation of the parking exodus after the movie ended. Our car was blocked in, so we also needed Amanda to finally get out and hold up traffic because nobody bothered to care that we had been there waiting for a chance to get out. Nor did they care that they had gotten into a line blindly without considering traffic laws and how they might apply to getting out ASAP. We did, however, get out fast and apart from really ticking off a lady in a bug who thought she could cut in front of me when I had the right-of-way just because someone else had done it (nothing a simple honk and words couldn't solve), it wasn't bad at all.
The movie. Realize that I was a severe skeptic of the series before and during my time reading it early this summer. But as the books developed and a solid plot line stopped evaporating (somewhere around book 5), the books got exciting, remaining easy to read, and I tore through them. Everything falls together in the end, and I feel like watching the movie satisfies the need for people to see it fall together on film just like they read in the books. My take, the books are better, the movie is changed and if you had to choose between the two, read the books. Definitely read the books before the movie.
Complaints about the movie include the quantity of flashy scenes where they try to portray flashbacks but also the present and the flickering doesn't really allow you to focus on either without ticking off your eyes.
The makers of the movie in my opinion did a good job in this movie (much better than in some previous) of selecting what was unimportant in a movie plot line and cutting it from the original book. The movie flowed, had light, entertaining sections, dark scenes precursive of the next movie, and drama/horror types of scenes that frankly pushed me a little. I don't go to movies to get scared and things like a dark room battle scene with a monster snake don't really get me going. But it was a well-balanced movie, accurately incorporating the book into an exciting on-screen adventure. Well worth the trip and the wait.
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