Review: Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

Swift at the opening of her film on October 11

My dad is a football fan, and when he started seeing singer Taylor Swift cheering Kansas City Chiefs Travis Kelce, he had to find out more about the performer who is selling out concerts everywhere she goes.

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So when the movie, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour came out, he had to go see what the fuss was about.

Then I found out it was two hours and 45 minutes long. 

Owning the stage in a Roberto Cavalli bodysuit

At first my dad was turned off by the length -- almost as long as Oppenheimer! But he just as swiftly changed his mind again to go.

We headed to our neighbourhood theatre and for a Thursday night there were less than 10 people in there, none of us Swifties.

The film is a strictly about the concert and viewers are privileged audience members who get to be up close with her, but also see the massive crowd in Inglewood, California. It was filmed over three shows in August 2023 and then quickly edited and released in theatres for October 11.

It's quite amazing that Swift was able to bypass the typical studio as distributor and do it all in-house, and directly negotiating with AMC Theatres for showings.

Nevertheless, the actual concert is impressive, which makes it a slam dunk to film. Swift is a consummate performer, with her total confidence in owning the stage particularly by herself in the opening song Lover. She struts around in a Versace bodysuit with zero stage fright in front of tens of thousands.

Another sexy Cavalli number with dancers

That's when you know you're in for a fantastic show.

The Eras Tour goes through her 17 years as a professional artist and performs songs from five of her albums including Fearless, Speak Now, 1989 and Evermore.

She sings, dances, and changes costumes at such a breathless pace that we were tired watching her non-stop. 

How does she even preserve her voice? Canadian songstress Celine Dion would not speak at all during the day until her performances, while Swift seems to have no problems doing back-to-back shows filling stadiums.

Swift wears high-end designer outfits from Versace to Roberto Cavalli (several), Alberta Ferretti, Etro, Jessica Jones, and Zuhair Murad. She's tall and slim which makes her and even more perfect person to model these outfits that mostly dazzle for the stage, while others are romantic and make her look like a princess.

Also on display is her massive talent, not only singing and dancing, but also playing the guitar and the piano for a few of the songs, and her fans singing along the whole time. She doesn't seem to mind and waves to them or points at them to give the impression she is looking at you. Yes you!

She wears Oscar de la Renta towards the end

The movie felt like it could have ended with the high energy Shake It Off, but it keeps going for another half an hour... but perhaps the memo was to cover as much of the concert as possible...

Nevertheless, we were left in awe of the power of Swift and why she is such an inspiration to her Swifties. Her fans in Vancouver are in for a treat when she comes for three dates in December 2024.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

Directed by Sam Wrench

Produced by Taylor Swift

2 hours, 45 minutes