Sunday, April 13, 2008

U23D


I've never been too keen on U2. Some of their stuff is fantastic and some of it I can easily ignore. I went along to see this film out of curiosity more than anything else and ended up really enjoying it. There are some absolutely amazing shots in the film and some great performances. Love and Peace (Or Else) for me scored the best in both these regards. A fantastic performance and also some amazing shots of Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. The 3D really adds to the experience and it is also not overdone, it is used to great effect at times and is the more powerful for being used relatively sparingly. It's an extremely politically charged set that's shown and the band's message of the need for unity is very clear and powerful. Well worth seeing if there's a cinema nearby showing it.

One interesting thing I found is that the majority of footage is from Latin America in some spectacularly packed stadiums. U2 are the quintessential stadium rock band and their music obviously passes through language barriers. For four guys from Dublin it's a hell of an achievement. As I've said I've never been a big U2 fan and I wouldn't be Bono's biggest fan either but I have a deep respect for their ability to reach such a global audience, a feat unparalleled in Irish music history.

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