GRADE: C+ Film can’t mirror ‘Cirque’ spectacle
Sleepy translation reminds us that there is no substitute for the real thing.
Cirque du Soleil movies are a lot like ballet films — long on beauty and artistry, short on story.
“Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away” is a 3-D catalog of the wonders of the Cirque company’s Las Vegas shows, from “Believe” and “Mystere” to “O” and “Viva Elvis.” It is a feast for the eyes, an appreciation of the accomplished art of the jugglers, tumblers, mimes, contortionists, acrobats and aerialists that have made Cirque a brand name for family-friendly wonders, even in Sin City.
Live, these shows are physical and technical spectacles, the state-of-the-art in what is possible in live performance. On film? The spectacle is a little less spectacular, the sappy Enye-ish score monotonous and the “story” takes on impor- tance that it cannot sustain.
Their movies are what the live shows never are — boring.
“Chronicles of Narnia” director Andrew Adamson has written a connecting tale to take us through the tents that hold these Vegas “Worlds.”