Glee's 'opportunist' 3D concert movie

Is "Don't Stop Believing" on the big screen just a shameless ploy to mine the series' rabid fanbase for some extra cash?

"Glee: The 3D Concert"
(Image credit: Facebook/Glee 3D movie)

Being a Gleek is exhausting. Glee's most loyal fans already watch the hit Fox series each week, download the show's songs on iTunes, and turn out in droves for its sold-out arena tour. Now they'll have to squeeze in Glee: The 3D Concert, which hits theaters this weekend. Is the movie — a filmed version of one of the cast's popular live shows, peppered with backstage interview footage — a "Teenage Dream" for Glee's large following? Or is it a cheap, "opportunist" ploy to milk tweens' allowances, deserving of the show's trademark slushie to the face? (Watch a trailer for the movie.)

It's an "insult" to fans: For all the "uplifting, inclusive good" the series promotes, says Jen Yamato at Movieline, Glee has become a brand that's "become high on its own self-projected, self-congratulatory fantasy." Sacrificing any sort of narrative thread in favor of scattered interviews with fans, the movie is little more than "an ode to the cult of Glee." I came away with a "nagging feeling" that the film is "just a cash-grab thrown together at the last minute" to drum up a few bucks. As for the ticket-price-hiking 3D effects? As Sue Sylvester would say, horror.

"Opportunist Glee: The 3D movie deserves a slushie to the face"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Actually, Gleeks will love it: "This film perfectly — and I have to say entertainingly — captures America's moment of Glee," says Roger Moore at The Chicago Tribune. From star Lea Michele's "Broadway-polished stage presence" to the Britney Spears-channeling dancing of Heather Morris (who plays ditzy cheerleader Brittany), the Glee concert movie is "all good, campy 3D fun." When future generations wonder what all the Glee-related fuss was about, this film "will go a very long way in explaining it."

"Glee: The 3D concert movie satisfying for the show's avid fans"

If this is money-grubbing, bring it on!: For those who religiously consume all things Glee, this concert movie is the next logical — and satisfying — step in Gleek superfandom, says David Hiltbrand at The Philadelphia Inquirer. The talented cast sings its way through a predictably staged, though "vibrant and eclectic" playlist — with help from "a pair of booster rockets" in the form of guests Darren Criss (Blaine) and a certain Oscar-winning Glee guest star. Sure, the film is "a deceptively slick package" and a "diabolically clever way to pick your pocket once again." But would fans expect, or want, anything less?

"As buoyant and bug-eyed as all things Glee"

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us