Fantastic Fest ’13 Review: ‘METALLICA THROUGH THE NEVER’

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Disclaimer, I grew up with Metallica. No, not with the guys but with the band’s music. They were huge in my formative teenage years. I heard The Black Album and really dug what I was hearing. The guitars were crunchy and the production value was huge. I had a couple of friends that were big into them as well and then I discovered their earlier albums which were more thrashy. I loved those albums more than The Black Album. Hell, I even like Load, which was universally dismissed amongst the metal heads. Point is, this film was made for current Metallica fans and to romanticize older Metallica fans into the theaters to see what they have been up to.

However, this ain’t no regular concert film. It is anarchy mixed in with a technical nightmare of a concert film. Simply put, and as unoriginal as it sounds, it is like no other concert film you have seen before. The story starts with a roadie played by Dane DeHaan who is sent off to find a truck in the city they are playing in for something important that the band needs by the end of tonight. He is given a map and a gas can – as the truck has run out of gas. What unfolds is a mixture of concert footage and a surrealistic story that starts off pretty strong. We are never clued in on what has happened, but we know shit has hit the fan, it ain’t pretty and our roadie needs to get the hell out of there A fuckin’ SAP.

Nimród Antal & Metallica have crafted a loose story that fits with the soundscape and atmosphere that is being unleashed on the screen. Some very striking imagery is in this film, particularly the guy in the gas mask on a horse. It’s almost like he is a member of the Four Horsemen riding around riots and picking up people with rope and hanging them from street lights. Yes, there is some intense stuff in the film. For the first half of the film, it is a decent balance of this drama that is unfolding outside of the theater and what is going on at the concert venue. Sadly, after you get over the hump of the film, when the narrative drops and you realize that you were never seeing a narrative but more or less a glorified music video, It’s a bit of a shame as there is so much promise in the first 45 minutes. The fact that it is unapologetic in its portrayal of street chaos by what I will call the Metal Militia, the film makes you believe that boundaries will be pushed. Add in some awkward moments when crew at the concert start getting hurt – in a weird parallel that you would think Hetfield, who was previously burned by pyrotechnics, would be sensitive to – and a really pretentious ending and you get a film that could have been something really special.

Metallica Through the Never is definitely a film to check out, especially for old & new fans of the band. The band sounds great, crisp and tight. It may be the only time when you can really envelop Metallica’s sound. Just know it has faults but in the end, it will make you want to listen to albums from Kill ‘Em All to …And Justice for All.