Review of Metallica: Through the Never (2013) by Craig M — 09 Jan 2015

Of all of the accolades and accomplishments Metallica has achieved throughout their career, being one of the greatest risk takers in Rock history has to be the most unheralded. Obviously, when multiple risks are taken, some work (i.e, pioneering Thrash Metal, recording with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra) and some don't (i.e. the St. Anger album, recording with Lou Reed). "Through The Never" is an example of one of their risks that sort of worked.

Since Metallica is arguably the greatest live band ever, they could've made a typical concert film and would've made their fans happy. However, since typical bores the band, they sought out to make a mark with this movie by having a scripted plot interwoven into the movie. As great as the concert footage is, the plot is equally as bad.

The concert is a feast for not only the ears but the eyes as well. The band thoughtfully plays at least one song from every album they've ever recorded. This is an ode to their legions of true fans who rabidly know their entire anthology. If that weren't enough, Metallica spared no expense and drove their stage designers crazy (this is no joke, the designers have a show on AXS TV and their frustration was well documented on one of the episodes) and built one of the most innovative stages in history. The stage, coupled with the set list would've made any fan smile from ear to ear.

Since the band's motto has been "What about the kids?" for decades, they wanted to give their fans even more, they also inserted a plot into the movie. Sadly, this was a poorly executed idea.

The plot just made no sense. As if that weren't bad enough, it just got plain silly at the end. This left the viewer with the idea that the writers had painted themselves into a corner and couldn't go anywhere else with the story.

The whole experience reminded me of Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains The Same." Except, in this case, no one can blame the pharmaceutically induced 70's as the excuse for the strange plot.

Finally, I also took off half of a star for the 3D. While the movie was visually stunning, 3D offered no enhancement of the experience.