One Direction: This Is Us
Starring: Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlin
Directed By: Morgan Spurlock
Reviewed by Danielle Muir
[rating: 3.5/5]
Before you click off this review in disgust be aware that there are some interesting points to be said about the fabled 1D doco.
This film doesn’t show you a bunch of spoilt brats flashing their cash in arrogance. In fact, it seems that if this portrayal is accurate, this band is comprised of a bunch of skinny English boys, thrust into fame beyond belief that have chosen to have a blast whilst working harder than a lot of us may fathom. I never thought I’d advocate a boy band but hey –these cheeky lads seem alright company.
The film tracks the boys on their mammoth world tour across seemingly every continent, and features live recordings from tracks during their concerts. Despite the perception they might be rude little you-know-whats, this doco shows us just how hard the boys really work, and how level-headed they seem to be considering the absolute pandemonium that has engulfed their lives.
The film delves into the boys backstories and frequently feature the loving parents and rellies of the fabulous five, which brings it some emotional depth when you see how proud they are and also how much they miss their little ones. Five days home in two years isn’t much, and the effect this has on their parentals is quite touching.
There are some nice juxtapositions of the boys on their tour being greeted by thousands, and I mean thousands of screaming fans to them camping in the woods, shrouded in utter silence, and this re-enforces the fact that the boys are in fact friends as well as colleagues. Again the utter popularity of One Direction is extremely hard to fathom, however time after time these young singers treat them with respect and have fun – which is infectious to watch.
One of the main let-downs with the film is the clips of them singing live –they certainly have a set of pipes but it looked like an utterly boring affair to be in the stadium watching them. They just seem to walk, occasionally jog and meander about the stage – hey, not everyone is blessed with dancing shoes but sure didn’t make me want to buy a ticket to their next gig.
One Direction: This Is Us gives a very comprehensive and entertaining look at the life of these boys who were thrust into extreme fame at a very young age and have decided to ride the rollercoaster gleefully. The live recordings don’t do much for me but the cheekiness of their ‘everyday’ life is hilarious.
