Saw the matinee yesterday. Busy, but not packed. Later in the evening, I played a gig at a club next to a multiplex that was playing it. Different story. It took me 20 minutes to find a parking space. Total zoo.
I'll put my movie comments in a spoiler box but first, just a few comments on why I hate going to the movies.
About 5 minutes before the movie started, four very-young teenage girls sat in front of it. "Damn", I thought, "They are going to talk through the whole thing". Well, I was wrong. Not a peep out of them. However, the two adults next to them, probably in their mid-50's or so, talked through the whole thing. So much for stereotypes. What made matters worse is that they both brought Panda Express with them. I'm sorry but I really don't feel like smelling your stinky chinese food through the entire movie. Is it me or is this just a tad overboard by bring your dinner in with you?
Then there was the guy sitting two seats over from me. Dude, no, you should not be having a CONVERSATION on your cell phone in the middle of the movie. I gave him a "I'm going to ram that phone up your ass in a minute" look and he sheepishly told the caller that he would call him later and hung up. Geez, ya think?
Stupid inconsiderate moviegoers.
Anyway, my spoiler doesn't give away any serious plot points or anything but still...
Spoiler:
We both really liked the movie. It was very true to the book and I liked the acting all around. But, my guess is that, if you go to see this without reading the book first, you stand the chance of becoming seriously lost in the first half-hour. I think the screenplay adaptation needed to take this more into account. We followed it fine but I felt sorry for anyone who hadn't. I would imagine they had a hard time keeping up with who was who. The movie already clocked in a 2 1/2 hours though, so I suppose it was a major undertaking to tell this story in a reasonable time. There is much more backstory in the book.
Still, Ian McKllellan was great in his role, as was the rest of the supporting cast. The weak link, IMO, was Hanks. He just didn't seem like he gave his usual all. The locations were gorgeous though and they were all pretty much as I had envisioned when reading it. All in all, and with the exception of our discourteous patrons, we enjoyed ourselves and I predict that overall, it will do well.