All aboard the Polar Express!

On Sunday, we took a little trip over the tops to Yorkshire to the National Media Museum in Bradford for a very special event. The children were excited but the person most excited of all was my husband. Because we were going to see The Polar Express. In 3D. In IMAX 3D.

The Polar Express is one of his Christmas traditions. He has two films he likes to watch every Christmas (the other being It's a Wonderful Life) and since the children were little, he's sat them down with hot chocolate on Christmas Eve and made them watch it. Luckily, they share his love of the film.

When we were first invited, we weren't sure if we would be able to make it. We worked out that there was only one date that we could all make to see the film before it finishes showing on 12th December. Luckily, at the very last minute, we were able to arrange to go to the screening after a little bit of juggling, although it meant getting there not long before the filming, leaving us very little time to look around the museum itself.

The only thing that really annoyed me about the day was the queueing system for the cinema - we queued up some stairs, went round up some stairs, long down some stairs and virtually back where we started. The queueing took so long that we didn't have a lot of time before the showing.  However, we found seats together although there is not a lot of legroom for adults, as the cinema is quite steep.

An IMAX screen is much bigger and has a higher resolution than a standard screen - it's about the size of five storeys. Making it 3D is the next step but of course that means you need to wear the sexy glasses which were handed out at the door. I couldn't answer for how different it looked because I'd never seen it all the way through before (I normally use it as an excuse to get some stuff done or have some peace!) but the 3D effects were great - so much so that Missy Woo kept putting her hand out to touch things.

If you don't know the story, a young boy is trying to stay awake on Christmas Eve to see Father Christmas. Instead, a steam train turns up to take him and other children to the North Pole to see the great man himself. The story is CGI animation fantasy and in 3D, it's just enchanting. Some of the angles had me closing my eyes, especially the part where they go down Glacier Gulch. My husband always tells the story of the time we went to the Hemisferic (a domed IMAX cinema) in Valencia whilst pregnant with Monkey and I actually felt sick during and after the film for about 20 minutes so I was trying to avoid the repetition. The effects are amazing although occasionally, the picture looked a bit blurry to me but that might have been the angle I was sat at. The story however really does come out of the screen! Even though everyone knew the story, we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

I somehow think that, despite the fact that we are getting a new telly (not 3D) for Christmas, that this year's Christmas Eve viewing of The Polar Express will not be quite the same!

(Thanks to the National Media Museum for giving us 4 tickets to see The Polar Express in their IMAX cinema. You can see The Polar Express there until 12th December.)

Going on a Journey 2...

No, I haven't descended into textspeak (hate it!), but Warner Brothers sent us to the cinema to see Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in 3D, which went on general release last weekend. Now, I had never been to see a proper 3D film before, although the rest of the family had been once or twice before. Monkey was surprisingly reticent about going, because he'd seen trailers and knew it was a bit scary.

I've always shied away from 3D films, partly because I am heavily influenced by all the Mayo and Kermode film reviews and Mark Kermode clearly doesn't like 3D. His argument is that it adds nothing to the story and therefore doesn't add to the overall experience. So, I thought, we'll see.

Not being the one that generally takes the children to the cinema, I had never heard of the Journey films before. I assume the number 2 meant it was a sequel but husband told me that he thought it wasn't. I guess he thought it was some form of terrible textspeak but on looking it up, it certainly is a sequel to Journey to the Centre of the Earth but that the only character appearing in both films was Josh Hutcherson, playing Sean. This time, Sean receives a radio signal from his explorer grandad played by Michael Caine that he has found the Mysterious Island written about by Jules Verne and helped by his stepfather (played by The Rock aka Dwayne Johnson), he locates it to being near the Pacific island of Palau. They go to Palau and find a helicopter, flown by Luis Guzmán with his daughter, played by Vanessa Hudgens, to take them onto the island. The story follows what happens when they get to the island and find Sean's grandfather.

The Mysterious Island

It's fair to say we all enjoyed the film.There is a lot of CGI so it looks beautiful and obviously the 3D made it an interesting experience. The film is rated a PG, which means that they say it should be fine for over 8s. Mine were fine with it, although they did find a few things a little scary but not to the point of being scared to death or reduced to tears. Monkey hid behind his coat a few times but actually, I think he was enjoying being scared! There were as many giggles as there were frightened reactions. Certainly, I would not take very young children nor any that are sensitive or not used to the cinema and because of the nature of 3D, you really do think that things are heading for you, which a young child might not understand.

Michael Caine was Michael Caine. (Does he play anyone else?) I do actually like him - two of my  favourite films of all time are Get Carter! and The Italian Job, although he does seem to be roughly the same character in every film, just in different situations. As for The Rock, well, he did a good job, but I spent a lot of time wondering if this film had been built around him - like a window display for his many talents as some of the scenes seemed to be set up entirely to show how great he was at various things and it made me suspicious that this was a "vehicle" film.

As for the 3D, I did enjoy it/ Kermode is right in that it doesn't add anything to the story. However, it does add to the overall experience and makes it more memorable. Yes, I would have enjoyed the film without it, but certainly I remembered various things all the more for them seeming to come out at me at various points. Monkey almost ducked twice too! I feel churlish not having seen a 3D film before but then, I remember that it should have cost £30; which personally, I feel is very expensive for something that is over in a couple of hours. Had we bought drinks and popcorn, we would have easily spent £50 for all of us. People just don't have that sort of money to spend regularly on going to the cinema; perhaps cinema is becoming the sole preserve of the affluent? Saddens me that this might be the case because it is a great experience. There are cheap deals - we use them a lot - but they rarely, if ever, show 3D and it is not something you can easily replicate at home either.

Rant over... I think families with children a similar age to Monkey and Missy Woo or slightly older would enjoy this. It is a nice piece of escapism and if you need something to fill a rainy afternoon. especially over half term, it'll do the job perfectly, if a little hard on the pocket.

(Warner Brothers sent us a gift card so that we could go to see Journey 2: The Mysterious Island at our local cinema. I have not received any further compensation for this post, I have not been told what to write and all words and opinions are my own.)