Glee: The 3D Concert Movie

Kevin Tancharoen

BY Robert BellPublished Aug 11, 2011

As constructed by the director of the Pussycat Dolls reality show and the painfully desultory Fame remake, Glee: The 3D Concert Movie is unsurprisingly piecemeal, amateurish, clumsy and saccharine, to the point of offensive piety. To qualify it as an actual movie is to denigrate the magic of celluloid and the many artists that have put years of passion and effort into creating truly moving pictures with meaning and integrity.

But, hey, there's a shitload of 3D glitter and a bunch of glammed-up teenagers doing karaoke renditions of songs by Katy Perry, Queen, Pink and Britney Spears, spouting some inane and idealistic (read: counterproductive) message of inclusion, so who cares? It's fun!

Filmed much like the Miley Cyrus and Jonas Brothers concert films, only divided up by rushed backstage antics with in-character actors, the aspect of this limited release marketing ploy that makes it different from other limited release concert films is the fan interviews with "different" kids sadly claiming to have found empowerment and self-actualization through the fantastical and borderline obscene television musical comedy.

Said fans include a cheerleader dwarf, a humiliated gay kid and a young girl diagnosed with Asperger's who are each exploited to reiterate the strained propaganda that Glee's message of equality and inclusion – and genuine solipsism about nuance – is actually something magical and heart-warming rather than just frilly artifice.

It does give us a rest from the many musical numbers, which occasionally have a peppy, infectious vibe when Broadway-trained Lea Michele channels the audience energy or Heather Morris does her Britney Spears routine, but often feel awkward when the less gifted cast-members delve into songs ill-suited for their pitch and style.

Regardless, anyone out to see something called Glee: The 3D Concert Movie will get exactly what they bargained for, along with a bit of Gwyneth Paltrow and a whopping dose of self-righteousness.
(Fox)

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