The IMAX Experience

I had my IMAX cherry popped last Friday at the MOA.  I’ve skirted going to that theater for the longest time owing to the usually anemic movies they play there.  I like experiencing new things but at least there’s some good motivation to really get me started and stampeding dinosaurs aren’t exactly good enough reason for me. 

Last Friday however, I checked out the movie playing in MOA’s IMAX and was delighted to see The Dark Knight showing.  I was with the SO and a couple of her out-of-town friends who wanted to check out MOA and despite their not-so-subtle hints that they’d rather watch Mamma Mia instead, I still had them marching to my dictatorial beat. 

The IMAX entrance fee was a steep P416.  A bit painful if you think of all the pirated DVDs you can purchase with that amount.  Still, an experience is an experience is an experience.  And IMAX is something that any out-of-towner should experience, right?  Not that they had any say about it, the SO was already paying for the tickets even before they could say yes.  The fact that I was in a fragile mood the past week certainly contributed to the SO’s support for my cause.

The IMAX screen was huge! The cinema chairs are almost colliding with the screen ‘cept for some balcony railings.  We were worried that we’d get dizzy as we’re right smack in the middle seats and yet we get the feeling that we’re still sitting too close.

“Why make such a huge screen and only use a part of it?”

I remember an article I read about IMAX before and it said that for a movie to work in an IMAX theater, it has to be shot using IMAX cameras as well.  I guess they weren’t lying as some of the commercials shown prior to the actual movie were all blurred and of very poor quality.  It also confirmed our fears that we’d get dizzy from watching too close to a very big screen.

When the movie started, we were relieved as the opening scenes showing the producing company only took about 2/3 of the screen which led one of the townies to remark about the waste of screen.  I think the exact statement made was “Why make such a huge screen and only use a part of it?”.  The remark was made quite loudly which made a few heads turn to our direction.

Of course she spoke too soon.  After the opening credits we were taken on top of a building and we’re actually looking down at the streets  below us.  “So that’s what the balcony is for!” I said to myself.  It’s like were up there with the chopper filming the movie.  It was something new and it was good!

The rest of the 2 hour and 30 minute movie passed in a blur.  I was totally awed by the clarity of the picture and the panoramic view that IMAX brings.  It’s really quite different from the usual movie.  I was hoping that IMAX would place me beside the actors or that bullets fired would be whizzing underneath my hair, but that was too much to hope for I think.  It was still quite an experience.

But the question is would I be watching IMAX movies from now on– not in your life.  Too expensive.

Batman: The Dark Knight

I was hungry for the next Batman installment when Batman Begins ended.  I thought Christian Bale was brilliant as Batman.  Somehow the previous Batman movies did not really make a fan out of me.  I thought they were overbudgeted and just showed special effects to lure people into watching.  Most of the time they capitalized on big named actors to make a killing at the box office. 

With Batman Begins they started incorporating some sense into the film and some acting too.  Actors did not just simply smiled their perfect smiles and that’s it.  Batman, played by Christian Bale, had me thinking of my own desperation and the sometimes hopelessness that comes along with it, so I wasn’t really surprised that I got excited when The Dark Knight movie was announced.  To catch it on IMAX was the icing to my anticipation.

Heath Ledger as the Joker, Batman’s archnemesis in the movie, was fantastic.  He completely took over the Joker role, portraying the character as a menacing, malevolent badass.  I think Jack Nicholson would be ashamed of his own Joker performance.  If I’m gonna be a bad guy I’d like to be Heath’s Joker– bad through and through and wrapping Batman silly around his fingers.  I think the unkindest cut was when he mixed up the location of his two hostages towards the end to confuse Batman.  That was pure evil and pure genius!  You should watch the movie (preferably in IMAX if you haven’t been to an IMAX movie) to appreciate this.

After the movie the two friends said they liked the previous Batman movies better.  Whatever.