Starring: Niall Horan, Zayne Malik, Liam Payne
Since being put together as a group on the British talent
show The X-Factor, boy-band One Direction (Horan, Malik, Payne, Harry Styles,
Louis Tomlinson) have attained international superstardom. This Is Us follows
them as they go through their first world tour and learn about their family
lives off of the road.
This Is Us is not a film that sets out to make new fans
for One Direction. They're so famous right now and often so polarising amongst
the general public that it would be a fruitless task. Personally, I could
certainly relate to a middle-aged man that is shown briefly in the film at one
of their concerts, plugging his ears. However, my musical tastes aside, This Is
Us actually has some merit.
As a director, Morgan Spurlock makes for an unlikely fit.
The expected route would probably be someone like Kenny Ortega (the director of
the High School Musical trilogy (2006 -
2008) and Michael Jackson: This Is It) rather than go for the man who gave us
Super Size Me (2004) and Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden (2008) and it
makes you wonder if in the future's there's a possibility of a film about Union J that will be directed by
Michael Moore, but Spurlock's style takes away some of the fluffiness and makes
it a film of two stylistic halves. Partly a fairly standard by appreciable look
backstage and part glossy concert film; the latter-half utilising the 3D aspect
to its fullest but can grow tiresome if you aren't a fan of the group,
understandably.
There's also the occasional brief appearance by other
notable names, especially the film's producer Simon Cowell (whose claim that
the band was out together because of the fans, is essentially true but the
rather substantial monetary aspect is noticeably pushed aside) and as well as
an unexpected and slightly surreal appearance from Martin Scorsese of all
people (although his work in documentaries with The Band and The Rolling Stones
does give a little bit) of an explanation.
The film is not an in-depth exploration of stardom, even
if the boys wax philosophical every once in a while and the looks at different
cultures does slip slightly towards stereotyping (we see cosplayers in Japan
and a mariachi band in Mexico) but One Direction often come across as somewhat
likeable (if a little too fun-loving) and this isn't a film that will appeal to
those who aren't part of the screaming crowds of fans constantly shown, but it
works for the audience that it's made for.
Next time, Julianne Moore, Alexander Skarsgard and Steve
Coogan appear in the Henry James adaptation, What Maisie Knew.
No comments:
Post a Comment