Warning: ‘Neverland’ spoiler in this post!

When ‘Neverland’ was announced as one of the biggest snowboard movies of the year, the word got out pretty quickly. The huge line up outside 5th avenue cinema on Thursday night wasn’t really a surprise. In fact the word went round so quickly that too many tickets were sold and the production had to organize a second screening straight after the first one. Luckily my friends and I got in for the first performance!

Funny to be in a room were everyone was wearing the exact same kind of fashion (and I know I was no exception). There was a quick introduction, some giveaways and after what seemed like a long time, the film finally started.

I was really looking forward to the movie and I better break it now: I was disappointed.

Sure the jumps were high and set in some amazing scenery, but frankly the editing was lame….  so lame actually that some pretty rad jumps looked plain boring just because after seeing 10 in a row, the wow factor wore off. Measurable by the silence in the theatre.
There is nothing wrong with spreading out the best shots and creating some build up so each jump gets the credit it deserves, right? And there is nothing wrong either with a bit of a story line… is there? And what about synchronizing the shots with the music. Actually, what about a good selection of music?
Granted, music is a question of taste and some people might have really enjoyed that selection but it didn’t blow my mind.

Whilst watching the movie I started thinking that the production team must have been in such a rush to get the movie up on the screen that they just threw the shots together, put some music on top and there you go, now pass me that beer over there.

However, here are the few things that I liked:

• Cale Zima: I bet everyone will remember the guy with the mustache and the tight pants taking spectacular jumps and crashing on the concrete. He wasn’t the best snowboarder but definitely the most entertaining.
• At one point both the cameraman and the snowboarder took a massive kicker which resulted in a really cool shot. That’s innovative camera work!
• The moment where one of the riders got pulled by a rope attached to a truck, then jumped on a rail and then straight across to the other building. That was awesome.
• The shot in that little Italian village on the mountain where the snowboarder and the cameraman rode that narrow snow corridor.

All in all I had a good time. Mainly because it’s quite something seeing this kind of movie on a big screen. I guess I have to appreciate the fact that not every movie can be as good as ‘First decent’.

I’m still excited about seeing ‘Elektro’ though, especially after finding some clips by Robert Brunton.

The man surely knows how to make a shot look interesting!

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