8 Reasons I Didn’t Enjoy Iron Man
Posted on May 5, 2008
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I’m sure I have your attention, as everyone, and I mean pretty much EVERYONE, has nothing but positive things to say about Iron Man, which is one of the best reviewed movies of the year. I really liked Iron Man as well. I just didn’t ENJOY it. Why? Here are 8 reasons:
1. There were a ton of kids at the 4:30 showing my wife and I went to. I don’t mean teenagers. I can deal with teenagers because they are there to actually watch the movie. No, I’m talking about 6, 7, 8, 9 year olds, and babies. Not Swingers-style babies, actual infants. Now, I have no problem with kids. I’m a big kid myself at times. But when I go see a movie I have been dying to see for more than a year, well that’s a different story.
2. My wife and I picked seats in the middle of the theater, with a nice buffer zone, about two minutes before the trailers started. Then a lady with a child of about 6 or 7 sat in front of us and, you guessed it, they talked through the whole movie. Not only did they talk, but the lady’s cell phone rings in the middle of the movie and they get up a few times and go to the lobby. The problem was the kid could care less about the movie. It’s mom who really wanted to see it. So, this ignorant and inconsiderate person, who knew that the kid was probably not going to like this flick (she continued to try to bribe him to be quiet throughout the movie) decided it was OK to disturb other people in the theater so that she could see Iron Man. The funny thing is, there is no way she could have enjoyed the movie either.
3. There was an adult, an ADULT, behind us and to the left who received a phone call during the movie. He then got another one and was talking on the phone as he walked down the steps toward the lobby. At least he was whispering.
4. There was a couple in their 40’s or 50’s behind us and to the right who talked throughout the movie. The adult male even told a long-winded story about fighter jets during the very cool “dogfight” scene .
5. There were at least two babies in attendance. That’s right, two Utah. And they both cried at various intervals. One of these babies sat in the front with his or her parents and cried a lot. I felt sorry for these parents. All they wanted to do was watch the movie, but that baby kept crying. What did they do? They sat there for five minutes or so to see if the baby would stop crying. Then one of the parents took the crying baby to the lobby for a minute or so and walked back in the theater so that they wouldn’t miss too much of the movie. Unfortunately the baby kept crying. Never mind the rest of us who paid $10/ticket to see this flick.
6. There were no ushers. Not one.
7. There was either a problem with the screen or the film itself. The picture was not crisp and there were spots on a large area of the screen that were very easy to see during scenes with bright backgrounds. I’m just glad there were no desert scenes or scenes of Iron Man flying during the daytime.
8. The sound was bad. It was hard to hear the actors speak at times (and no it wasn’t because of the talking or crying in the theater) and there was no surround sound despite the existence of numerous speakers lining the sides of the theater.
Now to answer your questions:
Question: Why did we go to a 4:30 movie on opening weekend?
Answer: Because I am an idiot. I should have known that there would be a lot of kids there and a lot of talking. That said, my wife and I once went to a very hard R-rated horror flick at 9:00 p.m. a few years ago and a guy brought four kids ranging in age from 4 to 10 and an infant. Sometimes you just never know.
Question: Why didn’t we get up to complain?
Answer: Well, we paid $20 for tickets and I wasn’t about to miss any of this flick. I also made up my mind about 20 minutes in that I was going to go see it again because of the issues we were having.
Question: Why didn’t you complain after the flick?
Answer: We did. Apparently some of these issues were our fault (we didn’t move, leave the movie to complain, allowed babies to enter the theater, etc.) This part of the story is not over.
Question: Why didn’t we move to a different part of the theater?
Answer: For a few reasons. 1) It would not have made a huge difference because the theater was pretty crowded and we didn’t know if we would be in worse shape if we would have moved; 2) we didn’t want to miss any of the movie; 3) I kept “shushing” and thought someone would eventually get the hint. They didn’t.
OK, the longest post I have ever written is coming to a close, but just bear with me a little longer . . .
I am so sick of ignorant and inconsiderant people in movie theaters. This isn’t the first time this has happened, but it was the worst ever. Please, please PLEASE just shut up when the movie starts, turn off your cell phones (don’t just switch them to vibrate), and don’t bring your children to the theater unless: 1) they can behave themselves; 2) they are old enough to enjoy the movie; and 3) they actually WANT TO SEE the movie. If you can’t say with accuracy that you can meet each of these requirements - get a babysitter or don’t come to the movie.
And for theater owners - please make sure your theaters are in good working order and/or the film isn’t damaged (for 10 bucks a ticket EVERYTHING should look and sound excellent), please have ushers walking through the theaters, and please institute policies against children under a certain age from attending movies that are not rated G. Oh yeah, please take some responsibility for these issues as well.
That’s it. I’m done. I actually feel a little better. Hopefully I’ll have an opportunity to see this movie again this week. If not, I’ll probably have to wait for the DVD release. At least then I’ll know that there will be no talking or crying - unless the DVD is damaged 
Tags: iron man, rant
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15 Responses to “8 Reasons I Didn’t Enjoy Iron Man”
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Man, that sounds awful. But then, I’ve been there and done that…well, experienced that. Movie experience was/is one of the main reasons I don’t go to nearly as many movies as I once did. It’s absurd the things people will do in the movies. But just having an usher walk through at the beginning of the movie would solve some of the problems (film not focused, it’s too hot/cold, sound isn’t right, people talking too much) and then once in a while during the movie would solve half of the others. For $10 we definitely should get a good experience or get our money back.
Yeah, I’ve had bad experiences before, but what made this soooo bad was that I was so excited to see this flick. I am definitely going to try to see it again this week.
I don’t go to as many movies anymore either. The ticket prices, inconsiderate people and the fact that I have a good system at home on which to watch movies all contributes.
Good stuff, stumbled accordingly.
We had a similar experience…people just cannot behave in movies. It’s getting ridiculous.
Really, the only way to see these summer blockbusters is to go to the midnight show the day before it comes out, because at least all those people are there to SEE THE MOVIE.
Thanks Mike.
The best experience I ever had at the movies was seeing a sneak preview of the original Batman with a huge audience of rabid fans. Now that was a great experience.
I have to tell you that sounds like a terrible experience. Nothing makes me more mad than paying for something and feeling like you have wasted your money and not only that you feel like you have not gotten a chance to enjoy something that you should have. I saw this one at the drive in and had a screaming baby in the car, but no one else was bothered besides my wife and I. We also got to turn the sound up or down depending on if we had a hard time hearing the dialogue or not. The drive in is really our only option for now because I am not going to be that guy with a screaming baby in a movie that people have paid so much to see.
Kids are on the horizon for my wife and me as well. One of three things will happen when we want to see a movie: 1) Get a babysitter; 2) go to the drive-in; 3) wait for the DVD.
So it seems that the movie itself was not the issue at all but more the environment and the technology that failed you. That, at least, is good to hear.
My wife and I went to the first showing on Saturday morning at the Cine Capri and it was a great experience. I would tend to agree with Mike on this point - either go to the latest show you can or go to the very first showing of the day in order to avoid some of these issues. However, I’m still convinced that watching it at home where I have control over all those environmental foibles provides the optimum viewing experience.
Just a word of advice, if you knew early on your were going to watch the movie again, I would have gotten up then and complained to the managers. They will typically do a couple of things, either they will go back with you and attempt to resolve the problem, or they will give you a free movie voucher to come back later and re-watch the movie. We have done the latter before. Just a thought.
Drive-ins? Who has drive-ins?
I won’t go to the theater anymore. i have a 2 year old, so it costs me about $40 to see a movie after tickets and babysitting. I’m not about to pay that to sit through talking, kids, and cellphones. And the film studios wonder why admission is down, and people are pirating movies. Good post.
Valid points, but I really just wanted to see the movie. I kept hoping it would get better but it didn’t. We went to the corporate website and complained and called and complained so we’ll see if anything happens.
There are a few drive-ins around yet if you can believe it.
Dani - Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I think its why DVDs are popular, people suck… I had some of the same issue when I went to the premiere Steven. Sorry your experience was so bad, but way to insist on going back for a better experience!!
You are correct sir, it’s much better to watch movies on DVD at home. The thing is, we generally do not go to the movies unless we REALLY want to see a particular flick (like this, The Dark Knight, etc.), so it is such a disappointment when people are so rude and inconsiderate.
There is still a drive in tyler, it plays new releases every once in a while. They put on a huge production for Horton Hears a Who in March. There were hundreds of people there , and they had a person dressed in a Horton Costume. My kids had a ball and so did we , it was opening night for the film and so for 6 bucks ( my 4 year old was free ) we got to watch that and a second feature. We ate pizza and popcorn and drinks for 12 bucks. So less than 20 bucks the 2 of us had a great time. If your ever in east texas , this is the place to go. www.tylerdrivein.com