First, a personal note: I am a grown man, I know how special effects work, and I know what I was watching was fake, but as someone who is not good with heights, the twenty-minutes night prep/wirewalk sequence in IMAX 3D was actually distressing, and it was interesting to see a sizeable part of the audience shrinking back into their seats and covering their eyes at times. The remainder of the film is a rather odd mix, however, as one of the most insane true enterprises ever is told in a somewhat whimsical style and in a technical and technique showcase that seems at odds with the very real life-threatening subject. In these respects, for the most part, The Walk is akin to Scorsese's Hugo but less fitting to its content. Interestingly, some of the incidental uses of 3D are as impressive as the finale, such as interiors of the circus big-top. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as wirewalker Petit delivers yet another wonderful character performance, with strong support from Charlotte Le Bon, Clement Sibony and Cesar Domboy as his immediate allies. The use of The Twin Towers inevitably adds poignancy which delivers most effectively at the end of the film, but in spite of the show-stopping wirewalk sequence itself, as Philippe Petit himself clearly feels, having achieved the feat, the feeling left is something of a curious anti-climax.
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