FILM REVIEW | One Direction: This Is Us

This Is Us Review

Following in suit with the Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus), Michael Jackson and Justin Bieber, One Direction have released their own 3D “doco-con” (documentary concert) for their fans to enjoy.

Taking a few crowd favourites from both Up All Night and Take Me Home, along with their Comic Relief single, One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks), the concert aspect of the film begs you to sing along – had I been in the back row of the theatre, I would have actually been dancing. On the documentary side of things, I thought it lacked novelty in the sense that much of it was a combination of their BBC documentary, One Direction: A Year in the Making, and their multiple biographies that have just been released.

But let’s unpack it a little more…

Airtime: Who Do You See A Lot Of???

You do see a lot of the boys, but if you’re curious as to how much time for each, I think I’d have to agree with my sister who said that ‘Harry got a lot of airtime’. I mean don’t get me wrong, Harry got a lot of great serious airtime too, but they were just overshadowed by his shirtless scenes. Seriously, any excuse to have him shirtless or looking at the camera, it was in there. Louis dominated the contemplative talking time. I felt like he had a lot of the mature things to say in regards to their journey as a band. Liam was following the same train of thought, but at a more personal level. Zayn had a lot of family airtime, which I thought was sweet and so realistic to what a lot of children who grow up in working class families want to do for their family. Niall was just plain Niall, laughing, having a bit of fun and was just thankful to the fans. So I guess there’s a enough in there for everyone to enjoy.

1D in 3D

I’m sorry but I’m still not convinced that people need to be in 3D. I mean it was great with the concert scenes. But even in those scenes, because there weren’t too many 3D graphics in the songs themselves (and the boys didn’t actually pop-out at you), there was no need to spend $20 for 3D.

Concert Concept

I love the set concept (because I’m a theatre nerd). I also loved that it was a mixture of London and all the places in the world, along with the comic book and gaming theme. It captures One Direction as a group and as individuals.

Favourite Part: When Mr Payne (Liam’s dad) says, “You never see it from the dad’s perspective…I miss him.”

Overall it was a good film. Nothing new, both in the genre of doc-cons or One Direction – but, it is one that fans will enjoy.

Star Rating: ★★★

Next on sL: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters