Cinema Trip

On Sunday Wife and I sought to go on another “Date Day”

Despite the challenges faced by our previous attempt we decided once again on the Cinema as our destination, the film in question this time round “Man of Steel”

We started well, having learned from our previous outing we chose an earlier showing and after a few false starts (£10 for parking, in Aldershot of all places) we found a suitable car park and made our way to the Cinema.

Due to a little “confused” driving and the aforementioned £10 charge of the 1^st care park we entered , by the time we reached the Cinema we were running a little late, in our rush I decided to forgo the pick and mix and instead settle on a packet of minstrels.

Despite arriving in the screen a good 5 minutes after the scheduled start time, the screen was still light and the curtains drawn, disaster averted, 40ish minutes latter we started watching the film.

That’s right; we spent what is over the ¼ of the length of the movie watching adverts before we even got out first glimpse of Krypton, I had litrilly finished my movie snacks before the movie even started!

I would be pissed off enough if it was 40 minutes of trailers, but at least a majority would probably hold some interest (i.e. the Monsters Universe trailer that had me laughing out loud!) but when at least 30 minutes of this time was spent being sold cars/perfume and god know what else, I can say I was less than impressed.

What was worse is I believe it genuinely had an effect on my and defiantly Wife’s enjoyment of the film. Man of Steel is pretty length at 143 minutes, but that’s fairly average nowadays, I can tell you it felt like a full on 4 hours by the time we left.

For me this was less of an issue, I enjoyed the film over all, despite some of the fight scenes feeling unnecessary long and a few too many buildings destroyed but to Wife, the additional 40 minutes prior to the film starting meant that these minor irritations for me, turned into game changers for her resulting the phrase “Thank fuck that’s over” upon the credits rolling. I know what your thinking, she is a girl afterall, but she is a girl who collected Batman and Superman Comics so this should have been a winner for both of us!

After that outburst there was no chance I was getting to wait for a Marvel style after credits scene, FYI if you haven’t seen it yet don’t stay once the credits start rolling, there is nothing to see!

Whilst I appreciate, as with any business, especially in the current climate the Cinemas and movie studios need to make money and these advertising opportunities supply a viable revenue stream it strikes me as an odd decision in a “dying” industry to try and alienate and inconvenience your customers more.

In a world where I can download most of my movie needs in HD quality within weeks (illegally), Months (Legally) of its theatrical release, watch it on a TV where the picture and sound will be equal to if not better than the Cinema, in the comfort of my own Sofa and whilst wearing my pyjamas, it seems an odd choice to hike the prices and ruin the experience, if the “experience” is the only thing that you have left to offer.