[ Media Commentary] Platinum Data – A Myriad of Possibilities

[barbosa2007.livejournal.com]

Here's an intriguing article written by entertainment journalist Otaka Hiroo, who has a regular column on Nihon Eiga. It's rather apt that I post this today, since I had only just watched Platinum Data yesterday. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the article and the movie too!

Nothing Unusual On The Entertainment Front

Platinum Data – a myriad of possibilities

Platinum Data, starring Ninomiya Kazunari, was off to a thought-provoking start. The movie premiered in 310 movie theaters nationwide on 16 March. Within 2 days, it garnered an audience of 305,743 people, with record box office earnings of 400,496,000 yen. It was truly a hit. However, to me, I wouldn’t have thought it strange if the box office earnings had been higher, given the ticket pre-sales. I had greater expectations.

This movie falls under the “Idol Movie” category. Amidst all that, I felt it was an original project. Whilst utilizing Arashi’s Ninomiya Kazunari as its protagonist, the film also touched on original material. It was a common tactic to cast a popular star as the lead and create an easy, upbeat film. Of course, there is room for adventure, and this movie felt noticeably ambitious.

I very much wish to commend that ambition. However, when you look at the demographic of this particular hit, a very large proportion of the audience was female. In other words, there were very few guys who went to see the film. We might take this as the norm, but I had hoped for this movie to surpass that “norm”. The favorable ticket pre-sales could be attributed to Ninomiya’s popularity, but how extensive an impact does his popularity and inner strength have? This should have been a factor of utmost importance in the movie’s performance.

On Wednesday, which was Ladies’ Day, the theaters which screened Platinum Data were filled with female audience members. It was the same case for Cinecon, which garnered ticket sales above the weekend numbers. Perhaps it was Nino’s inherent magic at work. You could say that if it weren’t for him, you couldn’t achieve these sales figures easily. But let me just say this again, the promotion method at this point was centered on his fans. I just felt that it was an incredible waste.

This is when the aforementioned ambition becomes an issue. As to whether [the movie makers] should have aspired to catch the interest of non-fans, it would have involved other factors. A suspense movie which revolves around a person’s DNA; we’ve stated it simply here, but to what extent has that topic pervaded the movie? And how much did it contribute to the public interest in the film? I felt that part was a little ambiguous.

You rarely come by an actor like Ninomiya Kazunari. He’s incredibly popular. The premise was interesting. That’s why I think it was appropriate for the movie to have a greater status as a hit. The movie might have been a success, but going forward, whilst expanding their possibilities, and leveraging on his personality, I hope both Ninomiya’s charm and the film’s content will reach out to a wider audience. I don’t think I’m asking for the moon here.

Read the original article in Japanese here.

Any thoughts on how the movie should have fared, compared to its actual performance? I thought Nino acted his tiny butt off but the script did not deliver its promise. If you wanna write about the movie, please warn others by leaving a SPOILER WARNING in your comment.

ETA: Oh, oh! I realize it's Nino month, so if you don't mind your F-list being spammed with little posts here and there, I'll be translating bits of stuff I find interesting. I look forward to being more productive.

Comments

There may be SPOILERS here, FAIR WARNING.

[lieyhel.livejournal.com]

I think the movie was driven a lot by Nino's popularity, to be honest. His acting skills is mostly preceded by the fact that he's a popular idol, and also his reputation as a good actor. Personally, I think the cast was well-put together and acted very well, but the script could have been developed. The pacing could have been improved too. Nino, in my opinion, delivered his role with a finesse that could not have been achieved by just anyone. I think it's a testament of his acting skills and dedication to his role that he managed to keep a tight grip on his character's different aspects. He really did well with what he was given.

The movie was average, to be very frank. The premise was interesting, intriguing even. It somehow failed to deliver the thrill the audience was led to believe would happen and almost none of the loose ends were tied neatly. It's frustrating to think that it could have been more, and the movie gets buried under a myriad of plot developments that did not get resolved. I think it failed to live up to the efforts of its actors.

I've seen it three times, with my sister dragging me along most times. It was shown only on two cinemas in Singapore. I've seen it on the screening, the opening day, and another day. I have to say that the audience was quite balanced, both age-wise and gender-wise, although for each session I went to, someone was squealing when Nino was shown on screen.

I tried to look at the film critically and not as a fangirl- the movie was seriously average, but with a cast of talented actors. Maybe without Nino the movie would have flopped, which was a shame since it was really something I was looking forward to watch.

P.S: Kudos to the person who did the special effects of the Platina Data system, it was great!