Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

I didn't know what to expect as I am an older guy out on a date with my wife. We first noted that every girl was dressed up and was just so happy. When the film started, there was an excitement I've never experienced. Everyone was so happy. The film started and we soon realized this would be different than anything we've experienced. As soon as the music started, every girl in the theater started to sing. And, I mean sing loud. We looked at each other and wondered if it was just the first song. Nope. It wasn't the first song as it would be every single song after that. I've never experienced anything like this in a theater. It was so much fun and highly recommended.

I'd never really paid attention to Taylor Swift until I saw a documentary about the album she recorded during the pandemic. Her thoughtfulness and talent were a revelation.

And then ... I watched this! Just an amazing display of talent by everyone involved. The stage production had, for me, the same feeling as evoked by those amazing opening night spectacles they always put on at the Olympics.

I utterly enjoyed the whole film and never felt impatient for the entire 3 hours (in itself an accomplishment!) The music everyone else seems to have memorized was mostly brand-new to me, and thoroughly enjoyable. What a musician and lyricist!

In short: Taylor Swift blew me away.

The theater I went to encouraged the audience to dance and sing along, which was unique for me since this was the first time I didn't have to sit silently in the movie theater.

Overall, The Eras Tour concert film is an enjoyable and entertaining experience for any music fan, but it will especially be a blast for Taylor Swift's fans. It is a well-made film that captures the essence and excitement of Swift's live shows. The film has good camera work, editing, and sound design that make the viewer feel like they are part of the concert.

However, at the end of the day, this is targeted at Swift's fans, so I think you have to be familiar with Taylor's catalogs to some degree to fully enjoy this. I noticed some viewers who seemingly just tagged along with their loved ones/friends losing enthusiasm and interest after a while since the film runs for almost three hours.

I mildly-enjoy one or two songs from her music (kinda of)... a friend dragged me to this. She's so beige. There is nothing exciting about her or her music. Every song sounds exactly the same. SO BORED! Please be more original. I am not a hater. But her ego is clearly inflated. Everyone is clearly entranced and so involved in her multiple boyfriend drama like she's your BFF. Get over yourselves. She doesn't care. This is just a money making grab and people are so into it. It's like a cult. It's sickening. Why waste the time? Just watch it for free in 2 weeks when the ratings crash and it goes to some free streaming service.

I am not a Taylor Swift fan, but I was curious to watch this given the high ratings. I went in without expectations and was greatly impressed by the concert, quality of camera work, costumes, set design, and impressive level of crowd participation. For a concert film, the production value is spectacular and credit is due to the excellent direction by Sam Wrench. The dancers here are really talented and she surely is a great live performer. Highly recommended even if you may not consider yourself a Swift enthusiast.

There were a few standout moments for me in terms of songs. Anti-Hero had the best songwriting on display, objectively. Love Story is definitely a good song even if she was tonally flat for a good portion of it. Cruel Summer is a great track. She tapped into something nice there.

However, I can't help but find that her lyrics come across as somewhat corny, often incredibly basic, and her performance feels sometimes unauthentic, never reachinhg greatness. She's having trouble hitting vocal notes for someone who's supposed to be the most powerful pop star right now. Kudos for not using live Autotune, though, like most artists out there right now, or lip-syncing to her own backing tracks.

Set rankings:

1) Anti-Hero 2) Cruel Summer 3) We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 4) Love Story.