U2:3D

An indulgent spectacle or a unique look at a rock legend? David Hollingworth ponders the latest U2 release.

U2 has been called a lot of things. Bombastic; over-important; dated. Bono himself has been called all that and more, and it would be very easy to look at U23D as some kind of vanity project.

But the truth is that I can’t. I’ve been a fan of the band since the early eighties, and while some of U2’s musical deviations since may not have left me as excited as earlier releases, I’m still a sucker for Bono’s swagger, the Edge’s controlled guitar work, Adam Clayton’s rockstar basslines and Larry Mullen’s powerful but precise drum work. U23D shows all of that and more to perfection, while the 3D effects themselves are almost worth the price of admission alone.

The film was shot over a number of concerts, mostly during the band’s Latin American tour in 2006, but there’s also some crowd shots that were filmed during a couple of Melbourne shows. The film was shot in a variety of stadiums and arenas, but the film still holds together remarkably well – one whole show was even shot without an audience, so that tight close-ups might be filmed that would otherwise interfere with seeing the show. It definitely feels like you’re seeing a single show despite the many locations.

It’s a technical marvel, too, shot on up to nine pairs of cameras during the biggest shoot, with 140 crew. The final product you end up with is nothing short of staggering, and the shots taken from within the crowd, amidst a forest of waving arms and fluttering banners, are breathtaking in their ability to make you feel *right there*. Then there’s the sweeping aerial shots, and close ups that make you feel like you’re standing up there with the band. Even if you’re not a fan it’s simply a grand spectacle.

Since I am a fan, I don’t think I stopped grinning at all from the opening track to the closing credits.

U23D runs a tidy 80-odd minutes, and the tracks the band plays cover classics nearly every period of the band’s long evolution, right up to hits off their last album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. For anyone who’s seen U2 live before, even just in films like Under a Blood Red Sky, U23D is also a great document of the way certain songs have changed over the years. A perfect case in point is Sunday Bloody Sunday; where once it was a protest song about violence in Northern Ireland, now it’s a hymn to religious tolerance between Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths. Not so far a shift, perhaps, but an interesting insight into the way in which U2 continues to remain relevant.

Of course, even with the technical wizardry, it remains a hard film to recommend if you’re not a fan. As biased as I may be, I understand that many see the band as tediously mainstream, and its lead singer as a pompous ass. But if you’re at all a fan... then this is an opportunity you cannot miss.