THE FIRST SLAM DUNK [2022]

One of the 1990s iconic Japanese manga and anime, Slam Dunk is now back with first feature anime film in years, THE FIRST SLAM DUNK. The story adopts the Shohoku VS Sanno Industry match at the end of the manga, interspersed with the past experiences of each Shohoku team member, and focus on the relationship between Miyagi Yoshida and his late brother, who was also basketball player, and mother, as well as his ambitions with basketball. This time, the switch of animation style to 3D production has always been the talking point among fans, but all concerns would be thrown out of the window with the start of the game, the team is drawn in pencil and then transformed into 3D and the movement during the match that follows. The 3D production made the pace of the game more tense, taking away the audience's focus completely. In addition, the 3D colour creates the feeling of an independent movie and enhances the artistry of the picture. The flashback scenes do not cut back the tension of the game, and in addition, it clearly shows the players' mental journey and time concept during the game. The last 20 seconds of the match was the climax of the film, and the audience held their breath while watching it. The only bad thing about it is that it relies on everyone's understanding of the content of the work. Besides Miyagi Ryota, the past history of the other members is lightly touched on in the film. If you do not know the past of each of them before, you may not know the growth of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede went through. Having seen the regular version, the IMAX version and the Dolby Cinema version of this film, and I recommend watching the IMAX version: one is that the aspect ratio of the IMAX version fully utilise the IMAX screen, and the other is that there is no Dolby Cinema in Hong Kong.