Last night, we were invited to an advanced screening of M Night Shyamalan’s After Earth, starring Will Smith and his sprog. As the first movie to be shot in native 4K on Sony’s F65 digital motion picture cameras, After Earth is easily one of most visually sumptuous flicks we’ve seen. On the downside, it’s also a bit of a bore. So can the sheer spectacle of 4K resolution outweigh its story shortcomings? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. Kind of.
[credit provider=”Sony Pictures” url=”http://www.sonypictures.com.au/”]
After Earth is set in a Dystopian future where the fauna and flora of Earth has evolved to kill humans — along with audience patience levels.
While the film isn’t terrible, per se, it never really grabs you in the way a sci-fi blockbuster should. The acting is wooden, the peril feels artificial and the climactic pay-off lacks the emotional resonance that the filmmakers were clearly aiming for.
There are also some pretty huge plot holes and the overall story is slighter than Jaden Smith’s acting range. (You can read a more thorough tear-down over at Gizmodo. Their verdict: it’s the best-looking bad movie you’ll see.)
All up, I probably wouldn’t give the movie more than a 6/10 and strongly recommend you wait for Blu-ray… that is, if it wasn’t for that glorious 4K resolution.
[clear]
Despite its shortcomings, this movie really does deserve to be seen on the big screen, if only for the roller coaster-like novelty of how it looks. This is eye-candy on a whole new level: it’s like Kool-Aid for videophiles.
There are shots in this film — particularly the panoramas — that trounce anything I’ve seen in terms of picture fidelity. The crystal clear resolution even makes arbitrary stuff like the flakes of snow on Smith’s face look spectacular. If you’re a die-hard resolution junkie (or just like looking at pretty pictures), After Earth is definitely worth checking out at the cinema. Just be sure to leave your brain at the door.
After Earth hits cinemas nation-wide today. If you are planning to see it, make sure your local cinema is screening the movie in its intended resolution — there are currently around 200 cinemas in Australia that are 4K-capable.
See also: Lifehacker 101: Ultra HD TVs | 3D Cinema: Is It Worth The Extra Money? | Sony’s Bravia 4K TV Could Easily Turn Me Into A Resolution Whore
Comments
10 responses to “Can The Splendour Of 4K Save A Crap Movie?”
“After Earth, starring Will Smith and his sprog.” WOW that made me audibly laugh out loud at work! Risky. 🙂
Not really. You may want to go and look up what the word means (and did mean before the definition you are thinking of).
Oh I know the dictionary definition but I also know what people actually think when they see the word.
Saw it last night at a normal cinema and yeah, it does indeed look fantastic. Also, although it’s not exactly the most high-brow of films with a dreary script and rather poor acting, I was still entertained and gave it 3/5.
I had very low expectations going in and was happy enough with what i got. Wouldn’t pay more than the $10 I did to get in though.
3/5 = 6/10. Sounds like we’re on the same page
yeah, all those explosions make michael bays movies better too
Oh come now, if you are genuinely seeing a movie for, and increasing your rating of, because of it’s resolution then you might want to check your cutlery drawer because it’s filled with shinny objects. It’s like reading a book for the paper quality.
I never said I increased the rating. Just that the 4K was worth checking out on a big screen.
It seems my assumption has made an ass of you and…..well no, just me.
It’s per se, not per ‘say’.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per_se