Punkish high-wire walker Philippe Petit has already been immortalised in the exquisitely beautiful 2008 doco Man on Wire. Robert Zemeckis’ dramatic account of Petit’s walk between the uncompleted Twin Towers in 1974 therefore has the potential to be a mere accessory.
But where Man on Wire relied almost entirely on still photography, Zemeckis races off in the opposite direction, creating a vivid CGI New York, aided by the best use of 3D in recent memory. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as lithe and animated as Petit himself, negotiates a ropey French accent (more than a few shades of Officer Crabtree in ’Allo ’Allo!) and far too much exposition before he stands poised on the edge of the void.
Everything else falls away as he dances on the sliver-thin steel rope. The camera swoops around the black-clad genius for a full 20 minutes of genuinely breathtaking cinema.
Stars: 3.5/5
Words by: James Robins
