Over the weekend my wife, Porsche, and I were in a wedding party. The Best Man convinced us all to go out and see a late showing of The X Men.
The movie stunk. But the state-of-the-art theater, with stadium seating and bone jarring digital sound, rocked my world. When it was all over Porsche needed two Tylenols.
For better or worse, it takes that sort of sensory experience to get me into a theater today. Plot, character development, even good acting and camera work will not do it. I can see those things at home with my DVD player.
Perhaps only a loyal comic book fan can appreciate the finer points of The X Men. For the rest of us, I doubt that even a twelve year old would be turned on by the plot. I went in knowing none of the characters and came out in pretty much the same state.
Yet the sensory experience was a lot of fun. It was like downhill skiing in the middle of a Metallica concert.
If you want to see a great movie, rent Dogma. If you want to get your money's worth out of a movie ticket at one of those new mega-theaters, then go see The X Men. But for the love of God, do not rent The X Men! As a movie, it stinks.
