Batman Alum: Joseph Gordon-Levitt The super simple story - Philippe Petit is going to walk on a high wire between the World Trade Center towers - is one that lends itself to an immense spectacle and, thankfully, Robert Zemeckis knows how to visually enhance something so straightforward to the point that it feels like a must-see movie event. That, unfortunately, is also the big downfall of The Walk. If you don't watch it on a giant screen, engulfed in surround sound, there's not really much else to buoy your attention. The run-up to the big, high wire finale isn't much of a character study, nor is there a lot to propel the film forward, other than the promise of the titular hair-raising stunt. But boy, when that last act finally gets here, and Zemeckis puts you in the vertigo-inducing shoes of Gordon-Levitt...it's worth it. Some have called it a "love letter to the Trade Center," but it's more like a love letter to pure, edge-of-your-seat entertainment. If they'd tightened up the runtime a little, the ending would have been even more satisfying.
