Superman in 3D: success or failure?

Last night I went and saw "Superman returns" in the Imax theatre and I found the whole experience a little paradoxical. On the one hand, a feature with 'selected 3D scenes', surround sound and a multi story screen is obviously an attempt by the film makers to create the sense of immediacy, which refers to the process of making the audience feel as though they are a part of the feature, immersed in its story and setting. This mostly happens when producers attempt to conceal the fact that mediation has taken place.

My problem with "Superman the Imax experience" is that only selected scenes (usually those in which flying, fighting and saving the day occur) are in 3D. This requires that the audience must at all times have their customised plastic glasses on hand and be vigilant for the on screen prompts which appear throughout the movie as a signal for them to put them on.

Does this not detract from the overall immediacy of the text as a whole? Is it not a snap back to reality which reminds the viewer they are in fact seated in a cinema and must now fumble to find their glasses and put them on as quickly as possible? Or, were the film makers successful in creating a situation where greater immediacy is in fact achieved through hypermediacy?

Thoughts?

-Andrew S.