Fifteen years after putting an end to the epic of the basketball team of Shohoku High School, Takehiko Inoue, author of the Slam Dunk series, returns behind the camera to offer a new iteration of his mythical series. In line with the original manga, the film broke all records by becoming the fifth most profitable film of all time in Japan. So, what is the value of this high-level student sports meeting?
Choose your camp
Against all odds, the Shohoku basketball team seems to play the final against the championship favourites, Sannoh High School. With sweat and fighting, each player will put everything in play to win this decisive game. With such an incipitum, the film quickly finds itself confronted with a dilemma that it will never be able to fully respond to. He never knows who his main protagonist is. Is Ryota Miyagi entitled to a short introduction? Or the whole Shohoku team filmed from their first appearance as a united band? Or another team member who pulls the cover until he eclipses the rest of the team? The more the film progresses and the more it seems to simmer without offering clear direction despite an interesting graphic party.
Penalty for analepse
To this is added the fact that for anyone without knowledge in the universe of Slam DunkThe fragmented narrative makes it difficult to understand everything and results in a lack of commitment on the part of the viewer. The film is built around a single game, punctuated with many backlashes. They invariably lack their target because they never bring the necessary depth. Every time you see one of them, you have the feeling that we lack information so we can grasp everything. These flashbacks fail in their goal of putting us in the shoes of the players. As soon as the first passes begin, one no longer follows a player who fights with all his strength to lead his team to victory, but rather a heteroclite band of which no one is known.
Time out for CGI
If the narrative aspect is fishing, the same cannot be said of the technique. If the 3D used is not always perfect (the waves by the sea are particularly disgusting), it reveals all its strength on the ground. It highlights the different actions and sports movements specific to the game and makes it possible to bring out all the more the scenes that use other animation techniques or different visuals. To the sound, the squealing of soles on the gym floor and the rebounds of the ball give us the feeling of feeling the match and being close to the action. An action that also benefits from a skillful cutting that intelligently alternates between tight plans to highlight the dexterity and power of the characters and wider plans in order to keep an understanding of the current game.
Missed basket
The First Slam Dunk is a sensual film that misses the tick of little. If he seems to have all the ingredients in his hands, he fails to score the point by making the spectator a committed Shohoku fan. Where the characters repeatedly repeat the importance of this final for them, one can never totally believe it and let it be carried. He has the neutral taste of a middle league game. Not enough to raise the scarf of his favorite team.
Manque d’objectivité, de recul et de prise d’informations. Certains sites ont été honnêtes en précisant que le film pouvait dérouter le s spectateurs ne connaissant pas le manga et c’est tout à fait normal. Le film touche en premier lieu les fans. Le personnage identifié est très clair et les flashback servent à mettre en lumière la relation construite entre Ryota et ses coéquipiers.
Bref un article qui ne sert à rien.