Cinema viewing finally finds its footing

It has been almost five years since the lockdowns, and until today, it has been a constant push and pull for audiences to make movie viewing a part of their routine once more.

Producers and movie studios have been more creative in storytelling these past few years. Along this journey, what they thought would be a blockbuster became lackluster for audiences. There were those quiet films that made it massive in the box office, even more than the projections of the studios.

Early on in this quest to find out what will make audiences rush to the cinemas, they had streaming to blame for their shortcomings. But honestly, evolution is inevitable, and streaming platforms are just there to exist and be an additional option in this fast-evolving world. What we have to do is pivot. Finally, we are seeing the light of day.

Studios are giving people more reasons to support cinemas. I feel like “Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022 and Barbenheimer (“Oppenheimer” and “Barbie”) in 2023 won’t be seasonal hits for audiences to block off their schedules and make it a date.

We are just in the seventh month of the year, and now, Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” which released theatrically, recorded the third biggest opening day of all time in the Philippines, following “Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War.”

‘Twisters’ is a bona fide hit with both critics and moviegoers, receiving a 92-percent audience score and a certified 78-percent fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Also, it doesn’t need any Glenn Powell kissing scenes to sell.

“A Quiet Place: Day One” also set the biggest opening weekend in the history of the franchise, with a global tally of $98.5 million. The film is also making noise locally as the second biggest opening weekend in the Philippines for 2024.

The author with husband Oscar Oida and cosplayers led by Prince De Guzman.

Just last week, the fun and experiential film “Twisters,” a.k.a. nature’s fury, rocked the global box office as it stormed into North American and Philippine theaters at No.1, nabbing the third-biggest opening of 2024 in the US with a sensational $80.5 million for this year.

During my chat with the cast, lead star Daisy Edgar Jones talked about the length of time that the whole team went through just to deliver an experience to audiences. The filming conditions were very tough. 

With News5 digital editor Von Belinario, content creator Chris Cantada and Spongecola vocalist Yael Yuzon at the 'Deadpool & Wolverine' Philippine premiere night. — Photo by Philip Sison

And they did know that it had to be done in order for audiences to feel as if they were part of the story.

“(With) the film, they felt like we’re inside of a storm most of the time. Wild! So much of what we did was actually for real. We didn’t use much green screen, and much of it had practical effects,” she said. “We had horse trailers drop on us! Huge engine fans! Debris, wind and rain!”

‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, has gone so far with the script that it became unapologetically savage and superiorly funny.

Imagine us watching this on 4DX cinema. It was like going to an amusement park that gave you more than a two-hour ride. The film is a bona fide hit with both critics and moviegoers as it received a 92-percent audience score and a certified 78-percent fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Also, just to expound on how much of a thrill the film was, it didn’t need any Glenn Powell pop scenes or kissing scenes for it to sell. Bam!

“Deadpool & Wolverine” came to the Philippines the day Super Typhoon Carina hit this week. We got to screen the film a day prior at the premiere night, thankfully before we were ravaged by the storm.

The effects of the typhoon were traumatic. Thank God, the film was excellent to experience and it exceeded my expectations before we went on dealing with the super typhoon. We waited for years for this “Deadpool & Wolverine” tie-up, and it was just perfect because they made the exact calculations for the action scenes, jaw-dropping and unexpected cameos. And they went so far with the script that it became unapologetically savage and superiorly funny.

Only Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool can pull that off because he shares the same humor off-screen. It was also good that they took the audience feedback from the past few years into consideration and really applied it to the film.

It gave hard-core comics fans and mainstream moviegoers a common ground to marvel on. Of course, we do not share spoilers, but with how exciting the film is, we even watched it twice, and the amazement was still there.

Now that is the cinema we need to keep the audiences coming back for more. It should be a whole experience, as if you’re taking them with you along for the ride. It may be more difficult to pool characters together or to achieve a certain scene with less effects and more realistic shots, but it is the necessary upgrade we need in this ever-evolving cinema landscape.