James Marsh’s Man on Wire — the superb Academy Award-winning documentary account of the death-defying stroll that high-wire artist Philippe Petit took between the Twin Towers back in 1974 — is given a fantasy thrill-ride makeover by Hollywood motion capture champion Robert Zemeckis (Flight). Saddled with a French accent, Michigan Mint-blue CG-eyes, and labored mop, Joseph Gordon-Levitt might just as well have relied on ping pong balls and a lycra suit to act the part. At best – a time lapse shows five training ropes dissolve into one as the youthful feet that cut across them gradually ripen to manhood – the special effects advance and inform the storytelling. Too often, they define it. The same vertiginous, stomach-tightening thrills that make every cent of the added IMAX/3D surcharge worth it eventually leave the audience hanging under the weight of effects overkill. For a film that takes its time, the inescapable allusion to 9/11 is splendidly summed up in one final word. With Sir Ben Kingsley (now there’s an accent!) and Charlotte Le Bon as the love interest they forgot to develop. (2015) — Scott Marks
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