Much like Taylor Swift onstage, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour makes no mistakes. The concert documentary hits every prescribed, specified mark. If this sort of precision doesn’t allow for much spontaneity—if the doc never quite gets lost in the moment like the best concert films—the spectacle, intricately planned as it is, still entrances. (The attention to artistic detail is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that each “era” gets its own custom-designed mic.) Swift’s strength has always been her songwriting, a skill that doesn’t translate easily to an arena setting. Kudos to her and her team for finding a way—through imaginative production design and backup dancers who essentially serve as supporting characters—to make her music feel both intimate and anthemic, something like a diary entry meant not to be hidden under a bed, but chanted by the masses.
(4/7/2024)
