Imagery was nauseating

Rating: 2/10 (27 October 2007)

As the continuation of the series, this was an interesting end to the trilogy. But watching it was almost impossible in many instances. The constant camera movement (do we really stand and wobble from side to side as we watch people?), the interminable over-close ups (do we really want to see the pores, pimples and moles of the actors?), and the nearly blurred cuts made the viewing range from nauseating to simply unwatchable. Those annoying techniques were so over-done that I had to close my eyes for many scenes just to be able to concentrate on the plot. My adult children had to do the same things. I looked around the audience and found similar reactions. The misuse of both cinematography and editing was so egregious that they completely displaced the plot with those extremely bad techniques. Director and editor and cinematographer note: IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU AND YOUR LAME TECHNIQUES, ITS ABOUT THE STORY! This is possibly the worst of all the attempts at misusing these techniques. Sometimes breaking the rules of cinematography and editing heightens the telling of the story. In this case it is the story, and a horrible one at that. As one of my instructors once said, if you become aware of the cinematography, the story becomes secondary. And it should never be so. Too bad. I really like the first two and hope if they do a fourth, there will be more sane filming and editing. By the way, if I want to take a roller coaster ride, I'll go to one of the parks that offer them. In a theater I want to WATCH a movie. Not get nauseated by it.