One Direction Movie Hits Theaters on a High-Note

The boy band that has been stealing the hearts of young girls worldwide has done it again. Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik of One Direction hit number one at the box office with their premiere of This Is Us. The film just nearly passed Lee Daniels’ The Butler with a total of $17 million profit. Unsurprisingly, 65 percent of the opening weekend viewers were said to be under 17, (and 85 percent female).

The movie is a compelling 3-D documentary following the five teenagers throughout their worldwide tour, including concert footage and behind the scenes action. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 76 percent audience approval. (Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never only received 64 percent back in 2011.)

So the 1D fans, or “directioners,” clearly enjoyed the movie. But what did the critics have to say? Top critics on Rotten Tomatoes admire the boys for their carefree, uplifting attitude and also say, “This Is Us will be fun for fans — and it offers just enough slickly edited concert footage to entertain the casual viewer.” Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, which entered theaters in 2009, received multiple critic reviews commenting on it’s lack of appeal to non-Jo Bro fans. One Direction surpassed the ratings of Justin Bieber and the Jonas Brothers.

As a hardcore directioner myself, I soaked up every second of the 92 minute film. It completely exceeded every expectation I had for this fan-made documentary. I left the theater even more in love with the boys than before (which proves that anything’s possible).

I heard stories of anti-directioners completely changing opinions after being dragged along to see This Is Us. I was, however, upset about the unbalance between concert footage and behind the scenes clips. The previews for this film truly showed all of the best parts, and I was overwhelmed by deja-vu while watching it. But other than that, I thought the graphics were amazing, the progression of the film was spot-on, and the boys of One Direction were just as humorous and fun-loving as usual. It’s a must-see for all!