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This was one of those
audiences that just about every film buff or anyone obsessed
with crowd reactions would die for. This turned out to be the
most vocal audience I've ever been with. Matter of fact, it
really felt like the experience I would have gotten at a
midnight show of Star Wars. It was mostly a college aged
demographic, with some mixes of older people in the bunch as
well. And walking by the LONG line to get in at 9:30, I
already had a vibe that this was going to be one hell of a
rowdy bunch of people. Once the lights dimmed, the
room was bombarded with humungous cheers and applause, with
even the Dolby Digital display receiving huge claps. I may not
be able to remember every trailer ad, but I think the first
one up was Kangaroo Jack. The preview withdrew some laughs and
giggles from a segment of the audience here and there, but
once the trailer concluded the theater was filled with the
biggest "Boo!"'s you think you could ever hear (somewhat same
response when I saw Attack of the Clones opening night here
and Like Mike was the departing preview to this reaction). The
said response definitely aroused lots of laughter as well.
Somewhere in the mix was What a Girl Wants, with the
sighting of Colin Firth (Bridget Jones's Diary) getting quite
a few cheers from the females in the room. In fact, almost
every time his face was shown the same group of people (and it
was quite a few) cheered. Of course, when the trailer wrapped
up there was a vocal battle between the guys and the girls
with cheers and "Boo!"'s.
In what I think is a damn funny trailer, Daddy Day Care had
an iffy load up but once the boy walked right into the door,
the crowd was very into the ad. Huge laughs erupted from
everybody, with the ending gag leaving everyone in not only
gigantic laughs but a nice-sized ovation.
Two Week's Notice got a very toned down reception from the
crowd, with a few female cheers for Hugh Grant but other than
that nothing exciting (nor what do you expect?)
Star Trek: Nemesis loaded to big cheers and claps (it
actually got the "event picture" response at load-up, but then
again, this was a college crowd in an area where loud
audiences can be common depending on the film), with plenty of
rave responses when it departed the screen.
I should probably note that during the entire trailers
round, I heard one person after another around me mutter,
"Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Rings..." in anticipation. And
with perfect timing, The Two Towers was the finale preview,
with the room going absolutely nuts just with the New Line
Cinema logo. The theater very obviously exploded with nothing
but cheers and claps from almost every soul in the room as it
finished.
As for Chamber of Secrets itself, this was far from a
family audience and everybody was having a blast. Claps and
cheers were frequent throughout the ride, with laughs showing
up at all the right places and almost every sighting of each
major character springing a few cheers or a few claps (Richard
Harris got a very nice reaction, given his passing). The young
women in the room were more than falling in love with Kenneth
Branagh, with a few of his moments ending up in nice
applauses. But then again, a lot of guys were enjoying his
role too (as was I). The film also got a very good applause
when it faded to black at the end, with most folks walking out
commenting on how good it was.
While I'm tempted to claim the sequel as being close to an
instant classic (I was extremely soaked into it), I'm not sure
if it's a complaint or just an overall observation but it sure
felt like I was watching Titanic with a three-and-a-half-hour
running time. Nearing the end it donned on me that this was
ten minutes longer than Sorcerer's Stone, which somewhat
answered that. Last year I caught the 3:30 pm show on opening
day at this theater for the first Potter flick with sold out
attendance, which influenced me to go to a later show this
time around to avoid all the kiddies.
With the 7:00 (a slight possibility) having sold out on
me by early afternoon, I was forced to attend the 10:45 with
tickets still available around 5:20ish (when I purchased them
at the theater). I don't even think the show completely sold
out until after I got in line. Overall, it was a movie-going
experience both quality and audience reaction-wise that I will
likely never forget. Makes me want to see the next Star Wars
feature at midnight; that's gotta be nuts. |
