– 133 minutes
– Directed by Paul Dugdale
– Produced by Daniel E. Catullo III
– Supervising Producer: Andrew Ward
– Starring Katy Perry
– Opening September 2 (in IMAX) and September 3 (worldwide)
Despite my somewhat critical thoughts on the 133-minute presentation of what was a handful of live concerts at Accor Arena in Paris, Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour delivers on the proverbial pitch. Like the recent (and not-so-recent) swath of proshots for concerts like The Eras Tour and Broadway shows like Hadestown, the hook is giving audiences who are unable or unwilling to shell out the time and money for the event in question a shot at seeing a filmed version in a movie theater. The quality of the concert or Broadway show is almost beside the point, although it certainly helps if the show delivers entertainment value unto itself. So while director Paul Dugdale — offering 60 different camera angles — delivers on the “next-best-thing to being there” sell, The Lifetimes Tour is less engrossing than recent concert films, mostly because the pop star herself allows the spectacle to dominate over the substance.
By that I mean the show is as much about Perry donning a variety of cartoonish outfits and flying around the stage as it is about the actual musical presentation. The show doubles as a sci-fi tale in which the music star plays a mechanized chanteuse-warrior battling a rogue A.I. that has captured the world’s supply of butterflies. That might certainly qualify as “added value,” but it quickly becomes apparent that the genre-specific razzle-dazzle is going to often take precedence over the songs and the mere notion of Perry singing and dancing to her own tunes. If anything, the way many of her most famous songs are swiftly checked off amid a somewhat sped-up medley implies that she’s of the opinion that she’s outgrown the likes of “California Gurls” and “Teenage Dream” or at least that she’s aware that (not unlike Hamilton) they were iconic hits representing the final gasps of a more optimistic time.