Watched this at the BFI IMAX today. Went into it not knowing really anything about it, critically or otherwise, save for my thoughts on the first film (which I find watchable, but a little basic).
In short I thought it was good - significantly better than the first film.
The first thing I noticed was the high frame rate - I haven’t yet verified whether it did have one, but I’m sure of it. It took my eyes some time to get used to and for the initial sections I felt like I way playing a PC game. My eyes settled though - unlike the Hobbit, probably because of the heavy CGI.
Most of my complaints of the first were pretty much resolved - that had a fairytale like narrative of overcoming an ultra herp derp ‘use brute force’ military adversary. This time around, the tone was slightly more desperate and darker… plus the ‘enemy’-side lead and their story was far more fleshed out.
The overall feel was ‘book-like’. It wasn’t in a rush to go anywhere. On one hand, I found this to be a strength: the acts of the film could breathe. I liked how it took a break from the main plot for a significant chunk of time to explore the ‘ways of the water world’ and the family moving there. I also really appreciated the attention to detail on, say, the whaling segment. On the other hand, book-like pacing can be testing and I could feel the run time by the end. Sure, it was all fantastic to watch, but did it need to be quite so long? As its strengths were found in its leisurely pace, perhaps a shorter run time wouldn’t have made it better. I suppose the most fat could have been trimmed in the very final moments. It would probably collapse on itself when watched at home.
With the benefit of the IMAX experience this was a 8.25/10 for me. The silly quarter point is because I’m torn between the long run time and how much I enjoyed some of the spectacular animal scenes.
I expect you could knock at least a point off for a home viewing.
In short I thought it was good - significantly better than the first film.
The first thing I noticed was the high frame rate - I haven’t yet verified whether it did have one, but I’m sure of it. It took my eyes some time to get used to and for the initial sections I felt like I way playing a PC game. My eyes settled though - unlike the Hobbit, probably because of the heavy CGI.
Most of my complaints of the first were pretty much resolved - that had a fairytale like narrative of overcoming an ultra herp derp ‘use brute force’ military adversary. This time around, the tone was slightly more desperate and darker… plus the ‘enemy’-side lead and their story was far more fleshed out.
The overall feel was ‘book-like’. It wasn’t in a rush to go anywhere. On one hand, I found this to be a strength: the acts of the film could breathe. I liked how it took a break from the main plot for a significant chunk of time to explore the ‘ways of the water world’ and the family moving there. I also really appreciated the attention to detail on, say, the whaling segment. On the other hand, book-like pacing can be testing and I could feel the run time by the end. Sure, it was all fantastic to watch, but did it need to be quite so long? As its strengths were found in its leisurely pace, perhaps a shorter run time wouldn’t have made it better. I suppose the most fat could have been trimmed in the very final moments. It would probably collapse on itself when watched at home.
With the benefit of the IMAX experience this was a 8.25/10 for me. The silly quarter point is because I’m torn between the long run time and how much I enjoyed some of the spectacular animal scenes.
I expect you could knock at least a point off for a home viewing.
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