GLEE THE 3D CONCERT MOVIE

Raise Your Glass For This Teenage Dream

Review by: Jade

When we started The Cheap Seats one of the first things I remember Yumi saying was “If I have to review Glee I will shoot myself”. A little piece of me died when she said this.

When I received the invite to the premiere of Glee The 3D Concert Movie I excitedly emailed James – three times. To which he responded with… nothing. I should have taken the hint. But I never do.  

When I called James to see if he would accompany me to the premiere, his response was “Sorry babe, I hate the TV show and premieres”. Another part of me died.

It turns out my 12 year old friend Gracie (who is also an actual real life Glee club member) would be the person who would save my life. She was actually excited to be my date to the premiere. And I was thrilled to take her. The premiere of Glee The 3D Concert Movie was awesome – one of the best premieres I’ve ever been to – despite the fact there were no stars there (except for Gracie).

When we arrived at the cinema there were cheerleaders in the foyer doing routines. Cool! When we walked into the cinema we were handed glowsticks and choctops. Cool! And then when we arrived at our seats, there was popcorn, water and our 3D glasses waiting for us.

Then all of a sudden this guy gets up in the middle of the cinema and starts singing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”. Then a girl gets up and starts singing. Then they’re at the front of the cinema and when the chorus kicks in, all these dancers mysteriously appear from everywhere. Everyone in the cinema gets up out of their seats and starts dancing like it’s a huge party. I feel like I’m having a “Teenage Dream”. And I am LOVING it. And the movie hasn’t even started yet. TICK one.

The movie is basically a live concert scattered with behind-the-scenes moments with the cast (who are always in character though) and real life Gleek stories. The concert has been touring all over the US and Europe and has sold over 500,000 tickets. And for those of us in territories who have missed out on the tour, we get to see it on the big screen instead.

The concert / film features all the classic hits from the TV show such as “Don’t Stop Believing”, “Teenage Dream”, “Firework”, “Born This Way”, “Slave 4 U” and “Raise Your Glass”. The production of the live concert is top standard - well shot and covered and I found the 3D elements better in this film than in Captain America. 

I’m by no means a full-blown Gleek. I like the show and watch it happily but not religiously. Part of me likes watching it because it pisses my boyfriend and flatmate off. And for some reason I find enjoyment in that.

However the episodes that featured Gwyneth Paltrow made me want to be a Gleek. I have never been a fan of Gwyneth. In fact I’ve ever only liked her in one film – The Royal Tenanbaums. But for me, Glee made Gwyneth cool. Real cool. I loved it when she sang Cee Lo’s “F*** You” (of course sang as the PG “Forget You”). I was suddenly a Gwyneth fan. And weirdly enough, her style really took it up a notch too (how good did she look in that gold Calvin Klein Collection dress!). While everyone was losing their shit at Splendour in the Grass over Kate Moss, I was actually praying to see Gwyneth. But she didn’t come.

She does star in the concert / film though. TICK two.

As mentioned, the film also features some stories of real life Gleeks – there’s the dwarf in the cheerleading squad who is going to prom with a “normal” sized boy, there’s the house hermit with Asperger’s and there’s the gay guy who was outed by his school mates. These are all kids who have been affected by the Glee phenomenon. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a bit teary.

My favourite moment of the film features one of the youngest Gleeks – the Mini Warbler – who out Glees the Glee Cast. TICK three. 

I have to admit that I love Pink’s “Raise Your Glass” – it’s the kind of song I use to dance around to on valium in my bedroom. It has that anthemic teen quality about it. And Glee is great at picking these songs. It gets it so right. They know their audience. And I think they’d do an amazing take on Gotye’s “Somebody That I Use To Know”.   

The Glee cast all get their moment in the spotlight, but I was a little disappointed Diana Agron who plays Quinn and Jenna Ushkowitz who plays Tina weren't featured more. 

The film was loads of fun. And my friend Gracie loved it (she even got a great idea for her school fashion parade). Actually everyone was loving it. Even during the ballads, the entire cinema had their glowsticks in the air. It made me wonder why Yumi & James hate Glee so much, because for me, it just seems like something so up their alley! They actually love singing and dancing. And together they are unstoppable at it. In fact the only reason I am getting married is because they promised to perform their version of Birds of Tokyo’s “Plans” at my wedding – Yumi singing and James dancing.

So basically I came up with the below Top 5 in honour of James & Yumi.

TOP 5 REASONS WHY JAMES & YUMI SHOULD STOP HATING ON GLEE

1. A scrawny white kid in a wheelchair with glasses singing a cover of Jay Z’s “New York” – how is this not cool? His WHITE. SMALL. And in a WHEELCHAIR. Nerds go gangsta. Awesome.
2. Any TV show that showcases music during prime time and rates its arse off is a good thing
3. The character “Britney” is actually hotter, can dance and sing better than the real Britney
4. There’s more than one Asian – there’s two!
5. It makes kids happy! They love the show and the characters. It gives them hope. And it makes Jade happy too. And a happy Jade means less punishment for you.

5 STARS

SYNOPSIS: Glee live in concert

WHO SHOULD SEE IT: Gleeks, Losers, Nerds

RELEASE: In cinemas for 2 weeks only starting Thursday 11 August 

@philjamieson tweeted: dude, glee sucks. You were only stoked cause y'all got free popcorn/choc-top. I do agree they could do a good @gotyethough.


Yes this is partly true Jamo. And they gave us free lollies too. There is something about free stuff that makes me giddy.  


And I can't believe I forgot to mention...


THE CONFETTI CANNONS. 


Yes they had confetti cannons in the theatre. And did you know that approximately 5 million pieces of confetti have been thrown on stage during the performance of "Somebody To Love"?! James, Yumi and I once used confetti cannons when we played at The Falls Festival in our band The Punisherz - we brought in the new year - also complete with 100 blow up Hello Kitty dolls. I digress. But yet another reason why James & Yumi should stop hating on Glee.


I feel like I should mention why Glee The 3D Concert Movie is perhaps better than the TV show so people like Jamo can stop assuming it sucks. In my opinion, the film is different to the TV show. The film is kind of like the best bits of Glee. It's all the great pop song performances and routines without the cliched teen story lines (which I admittedly like... sometimes). However the behind the scenes moments with the cast are very dry, smart and clever - and very different to how they appear in the TV show. The Britney character is especially funny. It's another side of the cast. It's like Glee does The Office. Not all the moments are hilarious, but most of them are.