Josh's Review: U2-3D

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Josh's Score:  10/10

Once in a while there comes a film that is able to emit an experience for an audience. These are the reason why people go to the movies. Now, we are lucky enough to live in an age of significant technological advancements to propel a film experience to a completely new level. U2 3-D is that film.

Many of you know that I am a really big U2 fan. I’m going to try and write the most non-biased U2 review as possible (we will see if it can be achieved). But first just a little history. U2 has been known not only for their great live performances, but their ability to connect with their fans through new technologies. The turn of the nineties saw U2 doing a mock television show in their ground breaking Zoo Tv tour. A show that was littered with abrupt satellite signals, which could be captured all over the world. As well as cars turned into spotlights, Bono making calls to President Bush, and of course the confessional booth for fans to confess whatever they wanted to which would also be broadcast during U2’s performance. In the mid-nineties, U2 decided to satire commercialism in their highly misunderstood Popmart Tour. This tour featured an LCD screen the size of a football field with an imposing McDonalds arch over the stage. U2’s final two tours, Elevation and Vertigo Tour, featured new ways of connecting the band with their audience by trimming down the big props and adding smaller ones, such as a beaded light screen and a stage that surrounded portions of the audience. All of these elements, from any given concert, created one of the best live acts in history. There is absolutely nothing like going to a

U2 concert.

That being said, U2-3D is not just an experience for U2 fans. More importantly I think it’s for people who are just looking for a new immersive film experience. The film is primarily a set list of fifteen songs, all recorded in seven different shows that U2 did in the early part of last year. The film not only captures what it’s like being at a U2 concert, but also is able to take the audience on a 3-D trip like they have never experienced before. The 3-D is distinct in the sense that no part of the film is really “in your face”. Instead, what the band and directors Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington were able to do, in place the audience directly in the middle of the show. There are times when you feel you are on stage with the band, feeling the roar of the audience as the Edge rips into “Bullet The Blue Sky”. There are moments when you are immersed in the audience while everyone is singing along to “Where The Streets Have No Name”. Then there are moments you feel like are just soaring on the entire energy of everything happening in the show. There are so many variations of shots throughout the film that I literally felt overloaded with how grand the 3-D truly was. The best number in the whole show was “The Fly”, a performance that bombards the audience on every visual and auditory sense that a film can possibly achieve.

I can personally say that I have never had a film experience like this before, one that I cannot wait to repeat. On the surface, it might just feel like a simple concert put into 3-D. Trust me, this is not the case at all. This is just the beginning of where 3-D films are headed. Personally I am just thankful that I was able to have this kind of experience with my favorite band of all time.

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