The Walk

(PG) ★★★

Director: Robert Zemeckis.

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, Clément Sibomy, James Badge Dale, César Domboy, Ben Schwartz, Benedict Samuel, Steve Valentine.

"What a view! I sure hope no one wrecks it by flying a plane into it."

(Too soon?)

IF you’re scared of heights, don’t watch this film. Especially in 3D.

Zemeckis’ camera takes you to the top of the World Trade Centre and looks down in this dizzying retelling of the story of Philippe Petit, the man who walked on a high wire between the two towers in 1974.

You should also not watch this film if you’ve already seen the superior Oscar-winning documentary Man On Wire – if given a choice between The Walk and Man On Wire, watch Man On Wire.

The Walk is not a bad film – in fact, it’s reasonably enjoyable with a fantastic final act. But it pales next to Man On Wire which, like a high-wire, was taut and tense, leaving The Walk feeling loose and saggy by comparison.

Gordon-Levitt stars as Petit, the strangely driven Frenchman who had an epiphany one day and would not let go of it.

Along with his “accomplices” (which include his girlfriend, a photographer and a man who’s scared of heights), Petit proceeds to plot out his grand “coup” and will let nothing get in the way of his walk, which took place 411.5m in the air on August 7, 1974.

Gordon-Levitt is great and makes the most of a role most actors would die for – he speaks French, talks with an accent, juggles, and walks the tightrope (with the occasional help of a body double). He nails the French and the accent and certainly captures the peculiarities of Petit while ensuring the character is predominantly unknowable.

Unfortunately, the main character also comes off as slightly annoying. In Man On Wire, Petit seems oddly charming, with an infectious personality and you understand why people are so keen to help him. In The Walk, he’s a frustrating oddball. There is also an odd framing device in which Petit narrates the film from atop the Statue of Liberty, which does nothing to dial down his ego or help the film. In fact, the narration is utterly pointless. We literally listen to Petit tell us what’s happening on the screen while adding little to no new information.

Erase the narration and The Walk would be better, although that wouldn’t get rid of some of the shonky special effects. While the final high-wire act looks mostly amazing, other sequences in the film scream of green screen and pull you out of the reality of the film.

The story itself is told well enough, but where Man On Wire felt like a heist film, this feels like a caper but without the jokes. As such, it plods along okay, but never ratchets up the tension or enthusiasm until we finally get onto the wire.

That’s when the movie comes into its own and redeems the slight flatness of the first two acts. Zemeckis does a great job with the finale, putting you up there on the wire alongside Petit and giving moviegoers a requisite bout of vertigo.

The Walk is worth seeing for the final act, for Gordon-Levitt, and if you’re unfamiliar with Petit’s story. But when compared with Man On Wire it is lacking by not being either suspenseful enough or funny enough. Either way, The Walk falls flat… unlike Petit.