Polaroid 2

Loved this film. A perfect sequel that explores some very interesting themes of sacrifice and realisation. Was on the edge of my seat right till the end.

This was a great sequel to a wonderful film. Polaroid was really moving when I first saw it - and it was a good choice to sequelise (sp?) as it deepens the tale, although my only reservation would be that it is essentially the same story (which was an issue for a few of the Ultra teams). This is not necessarily a fault as many sequels do just that, but it is somehow less satisfying in the end. Deja vu perhaps? Wonderful performances (as always with this team), and great storytelling, beautifully put together. I'm looking forward to watching the two films one after the other, but I'm guessing I will have to wait a bit, this is surely a finalist. Loved the fantastic team intro too!!!

**ULTRA** Four years on from the original we catch up with the survivor(s) of the emotional car crash. I enjoyed the tone changes in this and the feeling of such a smooth progression from "Polaroid". It all looked consistent with the original although I felt the dialogue volume was a little low at times and I picked up a distracting buzzing at the therapist's office (maybe not your fault!). Polaroid 2 does a good job at trying to pull at your heart strings but using a similar messaging device made me think to much about whether this was at all plausible. Fantasy genre or not, I'm not convinced the time-lines are achievable & there's just too much sacrifice going on in this family. Likely finalist, of course.

One of the more successful Ultra/Sequel films. And yet, like all Ultras, a Sequel to a film that really really really didnt need a sequel. But with that out of the way Submission Impossible submitted the Impossible. A good film that matched the tone and style of the original, exploring new and relevant ideas while managing the tricky task of incorporating a whole new genre (interesting take, obviously you couldnt go for the most obvious version of this genre) Like all Ultras this film suffers from throwing the audience into a pretty complex set up without much context, really you need to watch the original and this one back to back, which I look foward to doing. As per usual, strong performacnes, well shot, tightly edited. Should make city finals.

I'm a pretty big Submission Impossible fan, and Polaroid is one of my all time favourite 48Hour films. Revisiting it could have been seen as a pretty risky option due to the serious, emotional nature of the film (although it'd have been difficult to do a sequel to Home!). I think they pulled it off beautifully. Doing a sequel in 5 minutes is difficult. I think Polaroid 2 manages to straddle the line between explaining what happened in the first film, and having a self contained film that stood on it's own two legs. This film hit me right in the feels in a way that none of the other (excellent, beautiful) Christchurch City Finalists did. This is one of Submission Impossible's talents - possibly due to being a little bit older than a lot of other contestants - they've got an emotional range that can sweep from whimsy to tragedy and loss believably. Beautifully acted as always - and a special shout out to the young actress who played Harper. 5 years old(?) and holding her own with Michal and Clayton! The script was clever - naturally picking up on the consequences of the original, and closing the loop in an effective and satisfying manner that resolved both films. And the score was typically excellent. My favourite ULTRA finalist from Christchurch, and a worthy contender for the inaugural ULTRA National award.

POLAROID 2 is Submission Impossible's BEST film to date, and managed to do what no other Ultra sequels did; close a loop left open by the original. The subject matter of the story is crazy emotional, but it's handled with class thanks to the tremendous acting. My only confusion lies in something that has eluded both films in this series now- Are we assuming that at some point in the future, time travel becomes possible? As both films have had messages sent and intercepted from the future- within the characters lifetimes- yet both present day stories are pretty grounded in reality. Perhaps a Polaroid 3 will clear things up? ;) As a whole, one of the best Ultras I've seen in terms of continuing the story (and surpassing it imo), though if the original isn't fresh in your mind, I can imagine this one being a little difficult to grasp.