Metallica: Through the Never Review

It's safe to say that if you like the music of Metallica, you'll like this concert film/extended music video hybrid.

A couple of years ago, someone whose opinion I trusted (in cinematic matters) recommended that I see the documentary "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" because it shows the pop star in a new, respectable light, showcasing his hard-working nature and the troubles he encountered in his rise to fame.  Sure, I thought.  I'll take a look.

What I failed to realize was that I would have to sit through Bieber's crappy music (an obviously stupid oversight, on my part).  While I did gain some respect for the dude (temporarily), the yodelingly saccharine assault to my eardrums nearly destroyed my sanity.  Lesson learned.  Don't see a concert film if you don't like the artist.

Which brings me to Metallica.  This year marks the band's 30th anniversary and this is their gift to fans, a 3D IMAX concert/movie experience.  The concert portion was recorded live in Vancouver.  The movie portion, featuring Dane ("Chronicle") DeHaan as a roadie who must brave riots, psycho killers and the apocalypse while running an errand for the band, was directed by Nimrod Antal ("Kontroll", "Predators").  While the movie would have been perfectly fine as a mere a concert film, the film portions (written by the band members themselves - James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo), while at first intrusive, eventually merge with the concert portions and come together nicely by the end.  Think of it as an extended music video, filled with loads of headbanger iconography.

The real treat of the film is the concert itself, and the band proves once again that they're still in top form.  Even fans who've fallen out of favor with the band will enjoy the set - they don't play any songs from "St. Anger" or "Lulu", or even "Load", for that matter.  It's a nice mix of classics from throughout their career (although the only song they play from "Death Magnetic" is "Cyanide" - my least favorite track on that album).  My entry point for the music of Metallica was The Black Album, and the focus of "Through the Never" is primarily that album and their older classics.  There's also a nice version of the intrumental "Orion" over the end credits that I really dug.

The 3D is some of the most well-done 3D I've seen to date, and well worth forking over the extra dough to see it.  It's high quality.  They really put you right on stage with the boys, up close and personal.  Right now the movie is only playing in IMAX 3D, but it will open wide in the next couple of days.  Still, given the choice, I recommend three dimensions.

If sitting through 90-plus minutes of Metallica music sounds like a good time to you, than you will be in heaven.  I enjoyed the hell out of this movie.