Fan Rant: My First Walk-Out in Years

A friend of mine said just the other day that he never gives up on a movie because "the movie can never win."

In all fairness, though, he's a projectionist who saves his nickels and dimes for greater pursuits, likely including - but not limited to - consuming boot-sized portions of beer.

(Oh, and you missed out on a yeti making a touchdown gesture. No joke -- well, in theory...)

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I walked out on this as well, well... not so much walked out, but walked around to avoid...

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I also have the same rule (I even sat through Keeping Up with the Steins), but I had to walk out of Elite Squad. I just couldn't handle the irritating voice over!!! Also I spent that afternoon drinking boot-sized portions of beer, and that didn't help either.

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I thought MUMMY 3 was merely okay. I wasn't crazy about the movie, but thought that it did what it set out to do: make a big, loud summer movie.

What I do love, however, is how jaded we have become as movie-goers. The reviews for MUMMY 3 have been almost universally bad, and everyone seems to rant about how hollow and empty the movie is. My question is: How different is this movie from all those 80's movies we know and love? I mean, yeah, Fraser is mugging throughout this picture. But, Arnold, Willis, and Stallone used to do the same schtick through almost all their movies back in the day, and those movies don't get nearly the bashing that this one has. TEMPLE OF DOOM was loud, hollow, self-referential, and yeah, Harrison mugs at a few points, yet you say anything ill about it, people then to flip out. MUMMY 3 isn't meant to be classic, it isn't meant to be the next big thing, it's meant to be a throwaway, a b-picture, just like the original MUMMY series, back in the 30's. Sure, the original is classic, but the sequels were nothing more than throwaway pictures meant to be a good time, nothing else.

I guess we need to start having little labels under the movies so that people know what frame of mind to enter a movie with. You know, stuff like "PRESTIGE OSCAR BAIT PICTURE" "SUMMER ACTION MOVIE" "WACKY COMEDY" "HEARTWARMING FAMILY FILM" "DEEPLY FELT DRAMA" and so forth.

I sat in a crowded theater for MUMMY 3, people laughed, even clapped, and no one walked out (other than to get food or go to the restroom). Not every movie needs to be thought provoking or something that makes me want to change my entire live, sometimes all a movie needs to be is fun.

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I saw the mummy 3 yesterday and I enjoyed it for what it was ...entertainment. I went to be entertained, and I got entertained. I wasn't expecting a thinker like the matrix or a long drawn out story that connects through each installment like Lost. I was there for merely action and comedy and I got both.

*SPOILER*

I did think the ending was funny with Jonathan running to Peru because he wanted to go somewhere where there were no mummies and then the caption came on the screen saying that a couple months later mummies were found in peru. I enjoyed it, it was fun.

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I didn't mention this in my review, but my husband walked out of Mummy 3, right as they got on the plane with the yak (before the barfing). Fortunately we had gone to the screening in separate cars so he wasn't stuck there while I finished watching the film. I admit I was a little envious of him at that point. He's not usually one to walk out on films, but he went home to watch the director's cut of Dark City and I suspect he had a more fun evening than I did.

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I walked out of Paparazzi. I committed the ultimate sin because I left a friend behind. I just could not take it anymore. The theater was nearly empty and I kept watching every scene and telling my friend precisely what would happen moments before it happens. Then when the Mel Gibson cameo appeared (which by that time was like the 20th cameo), I lost it and had enough... I left. My friend still reminds me of the day I left her behind. Then again... it was Paparazzi!

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One of the reasons I don't go to the movies as much anymore is that I found myself a few years back wanting to walk out of several movies I had seen. So, I promised myself to watch movies on DVD to save myself the emotional issue of "but I just paid 20 bucks (with popcorn) so I can't leave." With a DVD, I pay a fix fee per month.

If I hate it, the incentive is to stick in the envelop and return it as quickly as possible. I did this with 300, which I felt was unwatchable unless one likes playing video games and is into homophobia and racism as virtue.

Of course, that movie was a masterpiece compared to sitting through Transformers-- I only got to the second act before just giving up because I wondering more about why would a kid have that car than the story or characters. The DVD formula isn't always the best choices.

I've seen movies that I wished I had seen on the big screen. The James Bond reboot with the new bond. The Bourne Series. However, generally, its an effective way to filter out crap. There's a lot of fanboy crap out there, and I just can't be sure even with a movie like Dark Knight whether I am going to experience a movie or the hype. So I wait to see it or eject it from my DVD player. That's a nice feeling.

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I agree this mummy really was not good at all. I liked the first not so much the second. I skipped the Scorpion King. I do wish Rachel Weisz was still in the movie. The person who took her place never felt like her character. I also hated how the first half/hour did nothing what so ever. Things like the dragons, Yetis and what not made you feel like you were not watching a mummy movie at. Heck I would go so far and say there were no real mummy's.

I am not so sure what they have plans for a fourth one. But if they do make one I hope it goes back to being more like the first one then the sequels that followed. When Brendan Fraser was on the View He said He wanted to do another one and so that is why the movie sets up another one in Peru. So if this one sells well for the next one. All I can do is hope they make the next one better and this time bring back real mummy's.

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I can't recall ever walking out of a movie, and I think the main reason for that is that I generally don't go see movies that I think even have a chance of being bad. Now, there have been movies that have slipped through my filter, but even then I am usually with a friend or my wife, so I don't leave.

The closest I think I ever came to walking out of a movie was during Atonement, though it was near the end of the film. My wife hated it too, but we were with another couple who loved it, so we stayed with them.

I have, however, stopped watching several DVDs that just didn't catch my interest. This is pretty rare, but I can remember I started watching Southland Tales a few months ago, a movie that I went to an effort to rent, but I just wasn't interested in it, so I turned it off.

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I don't think I've ever walked out of a movie. I think that's because I rely so heavily on reviewers. The movie dollar is becoming more and more precious. I am so grateful for folks who write about film. You all help me be an informed consumer. Sorry for your Mummy experience. I almost went this weekend, because I loved the first two so much. I've read enough reviews, like yours, that made me go see Tell No One. Glad on all counts. keep up the good work.

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The only movie I ever walked out of was XXX with Vin Diesel. That was absolutely the most ridiculous flick I've ever seen (or at least started to see). Logic was completely thrown out the window for that movie. Things would just happen for no apparent reason and people would do things without the knowledge necessary to do them or know about them. Dumbest movie ever. Hell, I even sat through Silent Night Deadly Night way back in the 80's and I thought THAT was stupid! But it doesn't hold a candle to how stupid XXX was.

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Only movies I EVER left were "Clockwork Orange" and "Whipped" but have sat thru a few turkeys in my time.
I thought the new Indiana Jones was actually worse after the first15 minutes. 3 reasons off the top of my head:
1. Every actor other than Harrison's son had to be and appear older than Indiana.
2. LONG, TEDIOUS chase scenes for no reason.
3. What the hell was the deal with the skulls they were just too stupid to believe.

Went to the Mummy 3 today. Didn't remember that Maria Bella was in it instead of Rachel W. Didn't think there was any chemistry between the stars. Fraser is always a hottie and his son is a cutie too. Jonathan is one of the few bright spots.
I thought the movie was quite a bit better than the 2nd one, but neither is close to the first.

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I never walk out of movies, even when I saw Meet Joe Black and was begging for Anthony Hopkins to just die already. I stuck it out.

My friend and I went to see the Mummy hoping that it was one of those 'it's so bad it's good' movies. I really enjoyed the first two so I had hopes.

However, this was so bad, it was just plain awful. The dialogue sucked, the story sucked, and was it just me, or did the son look the same age as Brendan Fraser?

We double featured and had a Fraserathon, and saw Journey to the Center of the Earth which wasn't bad and redeemed him!

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I actually thought Keeping Up with The Steins was a pretty good movie

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You know, If you've seen any of the Mummy movies, and they are not hard to miss since they seem to be on TV at least once a week then you pompous self appointed arbiters of what is culturally acceptable in a movie, would know what you were going to get in this movie. I went to see the movie today, it was - a fun movie. It was a Mummy movie, very much like the other Mummy movies. It was fun, silly, absurd, comic, a mile a minute of action and generally a decently entertaining movie. Was it Schinder's List? Heck no. There are plenty of unwatchable, serious movies you can go to see so you can feel superior without having to spend your valuable time excoriating a perfectly fine, funny, action filled movie. Let me say that again, a fine, funny, action filled and entertaining movie.

I'm amazed at the level of vitriol spewed forth by people who find themselves enraged that some movie isn't the second coming of the Godfather or some other universally acclaimed movie you movie snobs find appealing. You people aren't happy unless the movie has a message about how horrible people are or how people are ruining the planet. You people aren't happy unless half the characters of the movie die some painful 'meaningful' death and we all leave the theater depressed or 'enlightened'. Well sorry to disappoint you folks, some movies are just for fun. This Movie is just for fun and that's it. So very sorry if you were expecting sand and Egyptians and there weren't any, so sorry if you expected your own personal vision of what the third movie 'should' have been. You didn't make your movie, somebody else did - get over it already. Oh, and you "It was so bad I left the movie" crowd - you might want make sure you're with a crowd of self important mavens of what the 'right' culture is before you retell that story or else you might just self identify yourself as pompous. There just might be something a bit more important to rage on about, you know, like the tanking economy, high gas prices, war in Iraq, possible war in Iran, eroding standards in schools, inflation..........

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