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Topic: Aquaman (2018)

Sam Graham
AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues.

Posts: 1431
From: Waukee, IA
Registered: Dec 2004

posted 12-21-2018 04:17 PM

CINEMA: B&B Ankeny 12 & B-Roll Bowling, Ankeny, IA
AUDITORIUM: 1, SEAT: D11
PRESENTATION: B&B GRAND Screen with stadium Recline-o-Vision with butt warmers and dts:X and probably 4K laser beams or something
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Pre-show and early trailers played with no center channels and other channels sporadically cutting out. (Fixed with system reboot)
RATING: Four stars (out of four)

I get up to complain about the sound like the whiney little bitch that I am and find another guy is already doing so. I jump into the conversation with the cleaning girl who has no comprehension of anything and explain in detail that the center channel is missing and the other channels are popping in and out. The guy originally complaining says, "Yes. That's a much better explanation than I gave you."

As we walk back to the auditorium, he says "I just told her it was wonky."

Me: "Well, that's technically correct."

THE PLOT: A queen and a lighthouse keeper shack up and make a half-breed abomination. Wackiness ensues.

This obviously won't be a four-star movie for everyone, but I was suckered in from the word go. It's got the love story, it's got the humor, it's got the predictable plot twist (which, despite the fact I guessed was coming, still practically made me shout out "YES! YES! HOLY SHIT YES!" when it came), it's got the cheesy internal battle for control of an ancient fantasy world, it's got the fight scenes, and it's got the epic battle, and they're all some of the best in the superhero genre. The fight scenes are shot single camera video game-style with the visuals circling and hovering above the action in a way that can't possibly be real. And the battle scenes aren't blurry incomprehensible messes. They ACTUALLY MAKE SENSE as you watch them. It's like the biggest budget Roger Corman movie ever.

I don't know if it's just the equipment B&B puts in their rooms, but the dts:x sound was just phenomenal. This is the third movie I've seen in the format (all in B&B Grand Screen auditoriums) and it may be my favorite large format sound now.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 12-31-2018 02:56 PM

Cinema: AMC Patriot 13, Lawton, OK
Screen: #7, IMAX Digital, Seats L17 & L18
Format: Dual 2K Projection, 5.1 audio
Presentation Problems: Strange color issue with the projection (fixed with a re-boot).
Movie Rating: 2.5 stars out of 4

I'll talk about the projection issue first. Throughout the pre-show and at least half-way through the movie the projected image had a strange yellow-green cast to it. There was some red and blue in the image, so all three RGB color channels were playing. But the balance was way off. It was like the 1995 version of David Fincher broke into the projection booth and messed with all the color knobs. In bright areas I could see a faint vertical line texture running through the image. The thin lines reminded me of some computer monitors or a Sony Trinitron CRT picture tube. I was wondering if one of the projectors was down, but looked back and saw both working. During one of the action sequences the screen went dark. We still had audio, lots of fairly loud surround sound. I heard some audience members start laughing. The sound effects were pretty silly without an image to give them content. After about 30 seconds the projectors came alive again, with the color looking more in balance. The urine color cast we saw earlier gave way to a disco/rave version of Avatar.

Regarding the movie, I didn't go in expecting too much (especially based on some of the reviews). Cynthia wanted to see the movie and had a $20 gift card to use. That took some of the sting out having to pay extra to watch it in the IMAX-branded house.

Obviously this is one of those movies that works best if you avoid thinking seriously about anything you see or hear in the show. And that especially includes the Atlantis versus the Surface World cornerstone of the plot. Don't think deeply about that. The movie has some good moments. But it's balanced out with moments that are very implausible, unintentionally funny or reek of being included as part of a corporate check list of shit to copy from other movies. There's one enormous sea monster that was clearly lifted from Pacific Rim. I couldn't help but laugh when Patrick Wilson was delivering lines of bad guy dialog while wearing that "Ocean Master" costume and helmet. I wanted a bottle of Captain Morgan to appear on screen when Aquaman rocketed out of the water to do his hero pose in the movie's last shot.

I can't wait to see the Honest Trailer of this movie. The Screen Junkies folks ought to have a LOT of fun with this one.

Customers are going to be attracted to this movie for all the visuals. The CGI is impressive in some ways, like the sheer number of elements being rendered in many scenes; but not so impressive in others, such as white sharks that look almost as fake as the rubber one from 1975. The video game style camera work was kind of cool for the fighting scenes; it was a break from the old rapidly edited shaky-cam crap. This is another movie where they use CGI to make younger versions of middle aged actors (Nicole Kidman & Willen Dafoe). I think they grafted Nicole Kidman's face onto a younger woman's body in the movie's early scenes. It's either that or she's been working out like crazy in the gym.

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