The Walk (2015) review

In a way, this film sort of has a bit of a chip on its shoulder as it is a film released in the post-9/11 era that is based almost entirely around the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. But hopefully that doesn’t completely turn people away from this film because it actually focuses on a true story of the Twin Towers that was magnificent instead of tragic. When the towers were first built in 1973, the initial reaction towards them was generally negative amongst New Yorkers, many of whom referred to them as being ‘ugly’ and ‘oversized’. But on August 7^th, 1974, that all changed when French high-wire artist Philippe Petit ‘humanized’ the Towers by tightrope walking between them, situated at least 1,350 feet up in the air. This unique part of history had previously been explored in the 2008 documentary ‘Man on Wire’, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary that year. This year sees the release of a new adaptation of Petit’s story in the form of ‘The Walk’, directed by Robert Zemeckis, director of numerous film classics including ‘Forrest Gump’, ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, and my all-time favorite film trilogy, ‘Back to the Future’. With ‘The Walk’, Zemeckis achieves a pure cinematic achievement by giving us a film that is not only visually stunning but also one that is full of heart that will hopefully inspire others to follow their dreams, however impossible they may seem.

As he narrates throughout the film while stationed on the torch of the Statue of Liberty, we are introduced to Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who in 1973 was a juggler/wire-walker who performed daily in the streets of France having been inspired to become a performer after a trip to the circus when he was younger. One day, after a minor incident during a performance requires a trip to the dentist, he learns about the Twin Towers that are currently under construction in New York City from a magazine. Inspired to tight-rope across the towers before they are completed, Petit starts to train in the art of high-wire walking under former circus performer Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley) and begins to plan his coup to walk across the Twin Towers with the help of his girlfriend Annie (Charlotte Le Bon) and a few other ‘accomplices’ as well, including photographer Jean-Louis (Clement Sibomy) and algebra teacher Jeff (César Domboy). Once in New York, Petit comes across additional help as well in Barry Greenhouse (Steve Valentine), a life-insurance agent who works at the Towers, French speaking local New Yorker Jean-Pierre (James Badge Dale), a second photographer named Albert (Ben Schwartz), and stoner David (Benedict Samuel), who all help Petit as he undertakes the illegal operation of rigging his wire from the observation decks of what were, at the time, the tallest buildings in the world.

Obviously the biggest selling point of the film is the 20-minute sequence at the end in which Petit performs his famous high-wire act between the towers. Zemeckis has stated that he wanted the audience to get an idea of what the view was like for Petit on the high-wire instead of just looking at it from the audience’s usual perspective down below and he definitely succeeds in that regard. This was a film that was made for IMAX 3D, effectively making you feel like you’re on the high-wire along with Petit. Though with that said, it has been reported that some audiences ended up getting sick during this part when the film first premiered in New York. So if you’re scared of heights, this definitely isn’t your kind of film. But hopefully that doesn’t completely discourage some of you from seeing this film because the high-wire walk really is one of the best film moments of the year and even though you know what’s going to happen, you’re still on the edge of your seat throughout this entire sequence. The buildup to it is really great as well. Again, while we may know how everything turns out, it’s actually really fun to watch Petit and his team undertake their obviously illegal operation. We see how Petit comes across his ‘accomplices’, how he and his team figure out how to rig the wire to the towers, and see them overcome certain obstacles and issues. It’s all done at a brisk pace that makes the film compelling throughout.

One of Robert Zemeckis’ greatest strengths as a director is that he really knows how to find the heart and characters within an unbelievable story. And one of the reasons why this film works as well as it does is because while it is definitely a visually beautiful film, it also has a great amount of heart to it as well. It’s an awe-inspiring tale of the strength of the human spirit and how one man was able to make a seemingly impossible dream of his possible, which in turn can hopefully inspire others to make their own dreams a reality. A lot of this is due to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s phenomenal lead performance as Petit. Not only does Levitt get the French accent down very well but he also exudes a ton of charisma, which is obviously a key thing for anyone who is a performer. Levitt is backed up by a very nice supporting cast of characters headlined by Ben Kingsley as Petit’s wise mentor Papa Rudy and Charlotte Le Bon as his lovingly supportive girlfriend Annie. But then there are a few other members of Petit’s band of accomplices that also stand out as well, particularly James Badge Dale as the French speaking New York native Jean-Pierre and César Domboy as Jeff, an algebra instructor who has to overcome a fear of heights in order to help Petit achieve his dream. While some of the members of the team are introduced perhaps just a bit too late into the film to get any real chance to stand out amongst their peers, namely the secondary photographer and the stoner, most of the other members of the group do at least get their own moments to shine during a film that ultimately belongs to Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  

I legitimately have no idea why this film isn’t doing so well at the box-office despite getting great reviews. Is it because of the ‘post-9/11’ thing or the fact that some people got sick watching this film’s climax? Whatever the reason is, I sincerely hope that this doesn’t become this year’s next ‘Tomorrowland’, especially when considering that both films wear their hearts on their sleeves and honor the dreamers of the world. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; we need more films like this that promote positive messages of hope and perseverance that will hopefully inspire future generations to dream big. Obviously the biggest aspect of the film is the scene in which Petit walks across the towers, a visually stunning sequence that makes the film an absolute must-see in IMAX as well as the best 3D film that I’ve seen this year. Hopefully 9/11 isn’t one of the reasons why this film isn’t doing so well commercially because even with all that happened on that day in mind, this film is actually a very touching tribute to the Twin Towers in how it honors a joyous moment in the history of the Towers that were originally built as a symbol of hope. I’d also like to point out that this film ends on a particularly poignant note that doesn’t actually bring up 9/11 but does clearly allude to it, resulting in a pretty darn powerful conclusion to what is easily one of my favorite films of this year.

Rating: 5/5!

Looper (2012) review

 

In 2005, two things happened when the movie 'Brick' was made. Director Rian Johnson made his directorial debut and star Joseph Gordon-Levitt established himself as a premier actor of his generation, along with films like 'Inception', '(500) Days of Summer', and 'The Dark Knight Rises'. The two reunite again for Looper, a sci-fi thriller that certainly makes all of the right moves when it comes to its writing. Like with Christopher Nolan's Inception back in 2010, Looper is one of the best written and most original films to come out in a long time with a story that is not only compelling, but brings much emotional substance to the table as well. It doesn't ignore the heavy material that it's focusing on and is a film that will leave you talking about it long after it is over.

In the year 2074, time travel will have been invented but it is immediately deemed outlawed. The only ones who use it are criminal organizations who utilize the system in order to rid themselves of their targets. To do that, they send them back 30 years to the year 2044 where hired hit men known as Loopers eliminate the targets, thereby erasing them from existence. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one of these Loopers and like the others, he lives the good life on the one condition that he must never let any of his targets escape. But Joe soon faces a huge problem when his latest target (Bruce Willis) is none other than himself 30 years from now. Hesitating, Joe allows his older self to escape and is now forced on the run from his employers as he tries to fix his dilemma, even if it means killing his older self in the process.

So why did Joe's employers send him his own future self to kill? Well, this is a process known as 'closing the loop' that the crime syndicates eventually use on all of their Loopers in order to terminate their contracts. This is some pretty heavy stuff the movie deals with, and Johnson does not hesitate to illustrate the effect of this situation on these hit men. When a Looper 'closes his loop', they never realize that they killed their own selves at first because their future self's face is covered by a hood like all of their other targets. They will treat it like it's any other kill and won't realize what they did until it's too late. In the case of Joe, his future self arrived without a hood so he quickly realized who his latest target was. But then Johnson throws a curve ball because apparently the usual reaction that Loopers have when their Loop is closed is quite surprising at first. You would think that they would be horrified by the fact that they just literally just killed themselves, but instead they respond by celebrating about it, even when they will eventually be on the receiving end of the blunderbuss shot later on.

On another note, Johnson also makes sure that Willis is well-utilized. This isn't some case where Willis' role feels more like a cameo and he is given nothing to do. He plays a key part in the story, as Old Joe is on a mission to take out the one person who will one day become the crime boss known as 'The Rainmaker' in order to fix the future. We also see what drives him to do this, having had a wife but then losing her because of the Rainmaker. Both Willis and Gordon-Levitt are excellent and JGL very much channels Willis in this movie. Aside from his own performance, the movie makes us buy that JGL's character grows up to become Willis, both by a key montage in the film where we see how he ended up being sent back to the year 2044 and of course all of those prosthetics and makeup done on him. Admittedly it's not perfect, but you get used to it after a while.

Amidst of all this violence, the film also has a lot of emotional substance behind it, primarily when Joe meets Sara (Emily Blunt), a single mother living on a farm with her son Cid (Pierce Gagnon). Aside from later serving a key part in the story, their whole back story helps bring a human touch to this story, and the movie doesn't let CGI overpower the story and character development. We get a clear idea of this universe, where crime syndicates run without any problems from police forces. The whole time-travel aspect of the film is one that is given little explanation, but even the script makes fun of the fact that, when you get down to it, all of this time-travel stuff is just too complicated and, as Jeff Daniels (a great turn here as Joe's boss Abe) puts it, it “can just fry your brain like an egg”.

Looper is one of those movies that will leave an impression on you as soon as the credits roll. Easily one of the smartest and most well-written films of the year, Looper continues to establish director Rian Johnson's reputation as one of the top up-and-coming filmmakers after only his third film. Of course, it also continues to establish Joseph Gordon-Levitt as one of the best actors of his generation, pairing him up with one of Hollywood's most well-established leading men with great success. It's a film that hits you with the deep question of what would you do if you were faced with the situation of making a decision that will affect your whole life and doesn't sidestep around it. It's a film I highly recommend seeing and has my vote for a 'Best Original Screenplay' nomination at this year's Oscars.

 

Rating: 5/5!