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

VIDEO CLIP: One Direction - Best Song Ever

I reviewed the song last week, but with the song available on Vevo and iTunes as well as the long awaited video is now officially released, I thought I'd do a new post as an addition to my initial post.

The Video: is nothing short of entertaining. Best Song Ever is a culmination of the energy and all the dance moves from their previous videos. The theme of the video is that nothing will change the look and the style of 1D no matter how well it's presented to them or how big the producers get.

I was completely wrong about the falsetto! It's Zayn Malik ladies and gentlemen! Kudos, kudos to Mr Malik. I loved the video. It's a great lead into the upcoming film and it's absolutely so much fun to watch the boys talk to themselves. It's something new for them, but it's still completely them at the same time. It has nothing to do with the lyrics of the song, but it's a great video for the overall purpose of the song.

sL Star Rating: 5 Stars

Next on sL: The Wolverine

NEW SINGLE: One Direction - Best Song Ever

BEST SONG EVER

With This Is Us coming to cinemas this year (along with the Take Me Home Tour still in full motion), One Direction have given their fans something extra while they wait for the official 1D3D film. BEST SONG EVER is the latest release from the boys, being aired and released on Vevo on Friday 19^th July with the official song available for purchase on iTunes this Monday 22^nd July. The song is specifically written for the film but it stands on its own as well.

Best Song Ever is about a meeting between a boy and girl and having the best night of their lives dancing to ‘the best song ever’. That’s all good and fun, but like a night out and having too much to drink, the song clearly states that ‘they can’t remember’ the actual song that they were dancing and singing along to. They ‘think it went, “oh-oh-oh”’ or maybe it was, ‘yeah-yeah-yeah’ – either way, it was a great song, they just cant remember it. So clearly the ‘best song ever’ is nothing compared to once-in-a-life-time meeting. How…sweet?

There’s this amazing falsetto at the end of the song and I can’t really make out who it is. My money is either on Harry or Liam – but I guess we’ll have to wait for the official video, which is released on Monday along with the song. I’m looking forward to the video, I personally think One Direction have the best videos since their One Thing. And judging from the previews is still the boys to the tee.

sL Star Rating: 3 Stars

Next: Best Song Ever [Video Review] –  enjoy the video previews:

Niall:

Liam:

Harry:

Louis:

Zayn:

Final Preview