Letter-number, number-letter. I get it

You too can U2, for a fraction of the cost

William O’Donnell, staff

So, I slip on my 3D glasses and the first thing I’m presented on the ginormous screen is a preview for a movie about the Grand Canyon. As they raft through rapids, water seems to splash against me. I feel the illusion of being wet, which is a neat feeling . . . then suddenly it hits me, am I about to get splashed by Bono’s sweat and spit?

I am a virgin to IMAX’s 3D experience and I’m not entirely sure whether U2 3D was the right thing to pop my proverbial cherry, but here we are nevertheless. The experience of this film will probably bring me as close as I’ll ever be to a U2 show (or U2, for that matter), and there were times where I felt a little too close for comfort. No, moisture coming from Bono’s politically charged mouth was not the issue; it was whenever he stared directly into the camera during a close-up. That creeped the hell out of me!

The concert itself took place in Argentina in front of thousands of adoring fans (almost all of whom were holding cameras of some sort). The fan aspect is an important thing to consider for this U2 experience. This film is perfectly catered to their fans, to whom I cannot recommend this more. To someone like me, who is more accepting of U2 than a fan, it is easy to see how being a part of the fan bravado can almost be essential to one’s enjoyment of the film. But I did say “almost.” The film still delivers a cool rock ’n’ roll experience for any person. The size of the screen alone makes most anything impressive at the very least.

The enormous screen and its 3D feature, are perfectly set to capture the monolithic and overall larger-than-life . . . I’ve just set myself up for a mulligan of a “Bono’s ego” joke that I will charitably forego. The stage is backed by a ridiculous amount of lights and also features two pincers like additions to the stage that reach into the crowd and are used for some of the showier moments in the production. Rock concerts are known for being grandious, and U2’s setup was no exception.

With any sort of concert, the movement of the camera becomes a major part of the act for the musicians who (more often than not) are relatively limited by their stages. Though size isn’t much of an issue with U2, the band tends not to make many sudden movements or showy gestures. With this in mind, the relatively slow pans of the camera that passed by disappointed me, mainly Bono and the Edge, as it made them seem less dynamic in the performance. Once and awhile, and strangely enough, more often during slower and more epic songs like “Bullet the Blue Sky” did we get great use of angles and movement that truly made U2 seem like the rock gods they so badly proclaim to be. There are some definitive “neat” moments when Adam Clayton’s bass neck seems to swing over your very head while he sways in his typical playing motion.

This show comes from the band’s Vertigo tour, and is quite politically angled, as one might expect from U2. This is not just encompassed in Bono’s lyrics. Occasionally, we received animated portions of the show that were normally just a part of the large screens at the back of the stage suddenly flying out of the screen. Various animated messages of peace and unity of nations and other such themes based on the songs content made for some of the more interesting visuals offered. They added to, not distracted from, the show.

Again, as with any concert, the show is geared to fans and only so many transgress their core audience to reach the masses, the way that Hendrix at Monterey Pop seemed to. U2 3D is more the former in that it shall have its greatest appeal amongst its fanbase, but the use of IMAX and 3D film technology makes this a fun enough romp for anyone curious enough to give it a go.