Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2012

Country girl ogling a hunky circus acrobat falls through the floor to emerge in a magical place of fantastical creatures that jump around a lot to Beatles tunes. Okay, I’ve seen CdS once, in Vegas. I was entertained. But this cinema adaptation nearly put me to sleep. Perhaps we’re so inured to being visually fooled on the screen that when we see real people launch into real Spiderman acrobatics, it’s a big “so what?” Go see a live perf if you’re into cornball, new-agey, whalesong-and-leotard troupes. You’ll have a good time. But even in James Cameron’s 3-D, this Cirque’s Greatest Hits falls flat.