Due to the recent ability to watch newly released films on the internet, I hadn’t been to the cinema in a very long time. In fact, the last time I went to the cinema it was to watch the fifth Harry Potter film in July of last year. Similar to all the previous Harry Potter films, ‘The Order of the Phoenix’ added, changed and deleted vital bits of the storyline, therefore completely ruining any slight chance of pleasure for the millions of people that had read the book beforehand. Of course, most films that are based on novels completely obliterate all resemblance to the original plot and so by the end of the movie, the only thing that has stayed the same is the title. Hollywood has always had the tendency to take something good, turn it into something bad and still make a large profit out of it by selling it at very high prices. Overall, the Harry Potter movie was a big disappointment, so much so that it put me off paying to watch something that really was only going to depress me.

But being able to watch films on your computer means that you can watch what you want, where you want and, even more appealing, you can skip through the boring parts. And it is free. However, with the release of “Hancock”, a film that I thought should only be seen on the large screen for maximum pleasure as it features Will Smith playing an anti-hero type superhero who combines fighting bad guys with drinking and rebelling against the masses to a comical effect, I decided to try the whole cinema experience again.

The first thing that I did wrong was to try and book the tickets via the cinema telephone line. They had one of those computer voice recognition systems in place that required me to say the name of the movie that I wanted to watch about ten trillion times before I got to the right one. And then I had to use the trial and error method for half an hour until I got to a free time slot. Why don’t they just tell you which times are free and ask you which one you want to go to? After this of course, I found out that the cinema is tucked away in some remote part of Chichester that takes about an hour to walk to from the train station and another hour to get lost, buy a map and then walk along a small footpath to get to. It was not a fun start to my day.

Relying on previous experience, I knew that cinema food is, on average, 15 times more expensive than any decent human should pay (unless you’re Bill Gates), and so I had purchased a selection of cokes and chocolate before my visit. However, due to the extensive walk that I had taken to get to the cinema, I had involuntarily eaten all of my supplies. This dampened my spirits as I knew that without something to eat I would be hungry; with something to eat I would be poorer. It was a tough decision to make and even though I knew that I would regret it later, I decided to purchase some of the goods that the cinema was so kind to offer. At the counter of the cinema, my mouth fell open as my eyes gazed over the extortionate prices. Who would pay £10 for a coke and some popcorn?

However, apart from the price of the food, I was in high hopes because of the pleasant atmosphere that the cinema held combined with the excitement of watching “Hancock” which, because it was starring Will Smith, came with a lot of hype beforehand. Nevertheless, many films that have been hyped-up by the media turn out to be not nearly as good as were promised and quickly become forgotten as they are overshadowed by giants of movies that have become world-wide classics. I really hoped that “Hancock” would be one of the cinematography giants and not just a disappointment similar to many others that I’ve been to see over the years.

As I entered the theatre, I was shown to my seat and started to watch the first advertisements that appeared on the screen. At this point, there were only a handful of people in the cinema but as the adverts came to a close, there were a lot more people and only a few odd spare seats. I felt disappointed at this but not surprised as it was a new film and, as I mentioned earlier, there had been a lot of hype about it prior to its release. However, my sprits did not drop down all the way until the person sat in front of me turned out to be a very tall man with a couple of young children with him. As the film started, the man’s head was blocking out most of the screen and every time a joke of any kind was made he would start laughing raucously. This may sound trivial but these were very trivial jokes and every time he laughed, his kids, who were very young, mimicked him. To cap it all off, the parts of the movie that I did hear had a very poor storyline. So in conclusion, I watched a poorly structured movie which I could only see and hear parts of while eating some very expensive food. By the time the film finished, I was frustrated that I had spent money and time doing something that turned out to be very boring and not at all fun.

As I came out of the cinema I found that I desperately needed the toilet. Due to my lack of visiting the cinema in a long time, I had consequentially forgotten the usual urge for the toilet that I feel every time a film finishes. Maybe it has something to do with me drinking so much coca-cola due to my lack of interest in the film? After this, I discovered that it was raining outside which meant that I would have to walk back to the train station in the rain. To make matters worse, as I walked past the town shops on my way to the train station, a display positioned in the front of Waterstones caught my eye and after closer inspection I saw that it was advertising the new book in the series that I had spent the last couple of months collecting. This store was selling it for half price and I quickly entered the store with the hopes of buying it. I managed to find the last book and this raised my spirits as I thought that maybe my luck had changed but when at the counter and opening my wallet to take out the money my heart sank as I realised that I had spent it all on the train tickets and at the cinema. After reluctantly replacing the book, I continued my walk to the station. Walking in the rain meant that I got lost, again, and so, combined with the time that I had wasted in Waterstones, I missed the first train home. After waiting half an hour for the next one, all I wanted to do was to get home as quickly as possible. By the time that I did get home, I was drenched and so vowed never, ever, to go to the cinema again. However, deep down inside of me, I know that in a year or two I will have unconsciously forgotten my whole experience and will once again head off to watch the next hyped-up movie.