MOVIE – A few years ago I had an opinion about 3D technology, which was basically it will not have a huge impact on the movie industry, and that it would not be that great. „We will never reach that point in movie history, where a movie will not be a box office hit because of its low budget, yet the cast, the story, and the creative process is able to grab me, someone who has seen the marketing pillar of movie being: It will be best viewed in 3D”.

A lot of times I avoided the movie theatre because the newest movie had the following sign in large fonts: 3D!!! The TV, internet, papers  were all promoting the 3D effects of a movie. I think this is a problem if a movie’s main draw is only the 3D. The technology should only be there to expand the movie, to add more depth to it, not to overtake the entire movie. A movie has to be good even if it is 2D or 3D. The experience can be different, but the quality cannot be different!

Forward to the past

Robert Zemeckis has made such great movies in the past that it is a mistake in not anticipating his next one. He directed such movies as Romancing the Stone, and Back to the Future. He made a huge success with Forest Gump back in 1994, but since then he has been lost in the spiraling maze of new trends. He made several non-live action movies that were more restrained in their success. We even thought he was a gone forever as the hero of technology. However he is now back!

I do not really know what could have given him such a smack to the face, but that smack has finally led him back to the good old days. Robert finally produced us a really good movie, and I was awestruck by The Walk. This movie luckily has no connection to Clint Eastwood’s 1984 movie.

NY Times

According to the story Philip Petit is a daredevil, who after seeing the World Trade Center Towers on the cover of a New York Times magazine falls in love with the buildings He decides that he will be the first man alive who will „conquer the building’s top”, and of course cross „no man’s land” by walking across the skyscrapers with one rope.

Of course this task cannot be just completed, preparations are needed for every scenario, and the most important thing: TO TRAIN! The first previews are held at Notre Dame (where he walks between the two towers), and by walking between the two pillars on the Sydney bridge. It scared everyone at the time, and the movie goers felt really dizzy watching these feats.

Finally in 1974 he felt he was ready to complete his most daring feat, the feat that he has been dreaming of since he saw the towers on that magazine. We will get to see him complete this with such awe, and technical ideas, that pardon the expression but – my face fell off.

IMAX or Nothing!

As much as I was against 3D movies, I fell in love with them in 2014 and 2015. I always though that if a movie can only be enjoyed in IMAX then it is not really a great movie. However The Walk can only be enjoyed in such a way! The breathtaking visuals, and the view that is provided to us by the 3D is worth every penny, and a lot of work and effort was put into it.

Also a big high five to Dariusz Wolski who did a really great job behind the camera. The cameraman has been involved in such movies as The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Prometheus, and Exodus: Gods and Kings, and with The Walk he does not hold back! The guy really knows something!

And not only the 3D…

Of course all of this would be not enough if such talents were not hired as for example: Joseph Gordon-Lewitt, who is one of the best character actors ever! Every time I see him on screen I’m amazed, because I know he will be able to uplift my day with every second he spends on the screen. He does it here again, and it is so great to watch him in this movie.

The acting is top notch in this movie which surprised me as usually in such high calibre 3D productions the characters are showed to the back. Meanwhile Robert Zemeckis does the opposite and actually handles both parts equally, and neither parts push the other one to the back.

The side characters are mostly unknowns, and I did not recognize too many people. Yet these people also were able to act professionally, which means Zemekis directed the hell out of those extras to get to that point.

„There is something in the air.…”

I do not claim that The Walk has reformed my opinion of IMAX movies, but I can say that they definitely were able to balance out the qualities of the movie, and not just focus on : 3D!

The 3D here instead expands upon the movie’s world, and a lot of things are presented better than the basic 2D movie, but it does not subtract from the  quality of the 2D version. This was achieved by a great director, and with the help of Dariusz Wolsky’s camera work, and the uplifting story!

-Kese-