{"id":571407,"date":"2026-05-07T17:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T17:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/571407\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T17:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T17:10:11","slug":"james-camerons-billie-eilish-concert-documentary-is-a-titanic-waste-of-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/571407\/","title":{"rendered":"James Cameron\u2019s Billie Eilish concert documentary is a titanic waste of time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) is California-born pop star Billie Eilish’s third concert film.HENRY HWU\/Supplied<\/p>\n

Billie Eilish \u2013 Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)<\/p>\n

Directed by James Cameron and Billie Eilish<\/p>\n

Starring Billie Eilish, James Cameron <\/p>\n

Classification N\/A; 115 minutes<\/p>\n

Opens May 8<\/p>\n

Artists the stature of Beyonc\u00e9 and Bob Dylan have banned phones at their concerts. They and others believe the gadgets take away from the live music experience. Pop star Billie Eilish, on the other hand, has no issue with fans having phones. <\/p>\n

And that\u2019s a shame. For if she had restricted cameras on her latest tour, director James Cameron wouldn\u2019t have been able to make Billie Eilish \u2013 Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D), a titanically unexciting concert movie.<\/p>\n

Time and time again, Cameron trains his camera rig on young female fans watching the concert with their phones held high. If it\u2019s not a sea of cellphones, it\u2019s their tear-streaked faces zeroed in on, ad nauseum. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The film documents the singer’s stops in Manchester, England, as part of the Bad Guy worldwide 2024 tour.HENRY HWU\/Supplied<\/p>\n

Eilish specializes in moody introspection. She whisper-sings relatable songs about anxiety, relationships and identity, and her followers react to the music intensely. While it is important to capture that emotion to exhibit the full Eilish concert experience, the repetitiveness suggests a lack of ideas. Worse, it smacks of emotional manipulation. What\u2019s next, a room full of puppies?<\/p>\n

There is, in fact, a backstage scene with the singer, an advocate for animal rights, cuddling a bunch of tail-wagging dogs.<\/p>\n

In a scathing review of Cameron\u2019s Titanic, writer Lindy West famously described the 1997 saltwater epic as a film for \u201cfor 15-year-old girls.\u201d With Hit Me Hard and Soft, Cameron once again wades into that (lucrative) demographic. <\/p>\n

The film documents Eilish concerts in Manchester, England, part of the Bad Guy singer\u2019s worldwide 2024 tour. That this is the Californian\u2019s third concert film (succeeding 2021\u2019s Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles and 2023\u2019s Billie Eilish: Live at the O2) is an indication that the genre is devalued today. These unremarkable movies are souvenirs, like tour programs and posters.<\/p>\n

This one\u2019s in 3-D, a gimmick looking for a film. Cameron distances himself from the project early on, telling Eilish that this is \u201cyour show\u201d and \u201cyour creative vision.\u201d He says she should get a director\u2019s credit, and she is indeed listed as the film\u2019s co-director.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Director James Cameron, left, and Eilish on the set of the film.HENRY HWU\/Supplied<\/p>\n

I frequently feel embarrassed for Cameron. He fawns over Eilish like a grandfather, tossing softball questions during the clearly rehearsed interviews that break up the concert segments. Often, he coaches the 24-year-old star as if she were a child.<\/p>\n

When she explains that she\u2019s not sexy or girly, Cameron prompts, \u201cBut you\u2019re you.\u201d To which Eilish responds, \u201cI\u2019m me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She talks about the intimacy of her concerts and the me-and-them fan experience. Cameron: \u201cYou love that.\u201d Eilish: \u201cI love that.\u201d<\/p>\n

I hate that. This is a 3-D film sorely lacking in dimension. Hit me hard, hit me soft, Cameron, but hit me with something. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) is California-born pop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,23895,2839,14367,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-571407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-film-review","tag-movies","tag-noastack","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}