During the pandemic era, there were a lot of restrictions on cinema in Hong Kong. Cinemas were closed for over a hundred days. There was a time when customers couldn’t eat or drink in cinemas. Some people weren’t allowed to enter the cinemas for many reasons. The restrictions ruined the atmosphere of watching movies. Instead of going to the cinema, people watch Netflix at home if the movies are available there.
It’s been more than two years since I last watched movies in the cinema. Now, most of the restrictions are ceased. Meanwhile, The First Slam Dunk is released in Hong Kong recently. Last Saturday, my girlfriend and I woke up early in the morning, rushed to the cinema, bought the tickets and popcorn and entered the house.
I found two things that were different from the old days. The ticket price for an early show is still inexpensive. In the old days, quite a few people watched the early show for cost-saving. However, there were not so many people – fewer than 20. Perhaps people still don’t want to go to the cinema even though the restrictions have been relaxed. Perhaps they wait for the movie to be released on Netflix.
Another finding is the duration of the advertisement before the movie is much shorter than before or even none. In the old days, the first 5 to 10 minutes were advertisements. People like me often enter the cinema late as we know there is a buffer. But I was wrong this time – we were late for two minutes. The movie has already started, and we missed the first few scenes. Perhaps the movie producers realised people didn’t care about the advertisement or being late for a few minutes. Perhaps they realised the traditional advertisement model was no longer effective. Using sponsored posts and AI in social media is much more effective and accurate.
So how was The First Slam Dunk? It’s great.
I had some bad experiences watching anime nowadays. Producers often save budgets by sacrificing the quality of the anime. Recent animes like Blue Lock and Back Street Girls are examples of saving budgets. They claim themselves as animes but actually like PowerPoint slides. The characters move weirdly without taking care of the physics, which looks like adding a fly-in effect in PowerPoint. I’m not saying Blue Lock or Back Street Girls are bad, but I would read the manga version instead of the anime. The First Slam Dunk isn’t one of these bad-quality animes. The 3D drawings and colour profile look like a moving manga. Although 3D animation isn’t perfect, it’s already acceptable compared to many 3D animes nowadays.
Concerning the plot, over the years, many producers of best-selling anime released sequels. These sequels often upset the fans. I love Digimon Adventure. How about Digimon Adventure tri. and Last Evolution – Kizuna? Thanks but no thanks. Luckily, The First Slam Dunk didn’t take this approach. It told the side story using the view angle of Ryota Miyagi. My girlfriend, who didn’t watch the original series before, could still understand the story. I recommend people who didn’t watch the manga or anime of Slam Dunk before watch The First Slam Dunk. This is a brief introduction to the whole story. You will find every piece of the highlights in the movie. If you are interested in Slam Dunk after watching the movie, you should read the manga or anime. You will understand the details of each flashback in the movie.