Marvel braves the 3rd dimension

Marvel Studios makes new announcements regarding the up coming Captain America and Thor movies. The first release is a new photo from Thor featuring Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston). This is the first photo released that shows someone other than Thor himself and gives further clues as to the visual direction of Asgard and the Norse Gods.

Other news from Marvel is the announcement that both “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Thor” will be released in 3D, however neither will be shot in 3D but will under go the 3D conversion process. In quotes from Hero Complex Thor director Kenneth Branagh says the he looks forward to what 3D can add to the film,

“We came to feel that in our case 3-D could be the very good friend of story and character for a different kind of experience… It’s another draft of the story that can reveal itself in a different way. I had a healthy degree of skepticism up front … I’ve become somebody extremely excited about working with possibilities of doing it this way.”

While Captain America director Joe Johnston found 3D filming too be to difficult and opted for the conversion,

Johnston did a one-day test shooting with a 3-D rig — as opposed to shooting in 2-D and converting — and said it was “a nightmare” due to bulky gear, calibration issues and restricted filmmaking options. He said he’s a firm believer, though, in the conversion approach if done right and he’s enthused to move forward. “It’s a new challenge and it’s exciting,” Johnston said.

So far the 3D conversion process has not been looked apon favorably by critics, even with extremely successful movies like the Tim Burton “Alice in Wonderland”. Movies like the reversioned “Clash of the Titans” have been universally slammed for the poor conversion process it under went. When James Cameron revitalized 3D with “Avatar” many years and a great deal of money were put into bringing the world of Pandora to life and he has been out spoken on his dislike of the new trend to convert what wasn’t originally intended to be 3D to 3D.

In the era in which studios and media are telling us that 3D is not a gimmick and is here to stay it will be interesting to see if Marvel Studios and Paramount will be able to put the time and resources for 3D conversion into these films before their summer 2011 release dates. Can we anticipate to see a rich experience like the world of Pandora or are we more likely to have shields and hammers thrown in our faces in an attempt to justify the 3D ticket price.