Anybody who’s prone to motion sickness knows they need to stay far away from the Bourne movies. The shaky camera movement and rapid cutting of director Paul Greengrass essentially simulates being on a bumpy car trip for two hours, and you leave the theater dizzy, disoriented, and ready to heave your Milk Duds. The one blessing is that the Bourne movies have always strictly been 2D — until now.
For its release in China, Jason Bourne was given a “special” 3D conversion, and it hasn’t gone over well. 3D only magnifies the motion sickness effect, so now even people who could usually handle the Bourne movies are feeling under the weather. Pray for the folks who already couldn’t take Bourne in 2D — I’m imagining a Monty Python Mr. Creosote situation.
In response to the Bourne barfapalooza, some Chinese fans have protested outside theaters demanding refunds. Plenty more have hit Chinese social media to express complaints like this:
“I really felt sick during the fight scenes when I watched it in 3D. It was like a low-budget movie. I need to watch again in 2D.”
That raises a good question: Why doesn’t everybody in China just watch the movie in 2D? Well, 3D is even more widespread in China than it is here. The vast majority of China’s theaters were built in the last 5 to 10 years, and are all equipped with 3D projectors, so it’s rare for movies to be shown in China in anything but 3D. For instance, only eight of Beijing’s 149 theaters are offering Jason Bourne in 2D.
Matt Damon is one of the biggest Western stars in China — The Martian was a big hit there, and he’s set to star in homegrown Chinese blockbuster The Great Wall. So for his sake, let’s hope the sour taste left by Jason Bourne in 3D doesn’t linger.
(Via the Hollywood Reporter)
