Michael Bay’s Spectacular Parkour Documentary

Ever wanted to see a Michael Bay movie filled with his trademark high-octane action sequences but without all those annoying characters and plotlines? You have your wish with his new documentary about a seven-member team of parkour athletes who have been racking up millions of YouTube subscribers and billions of views since they started filming their stunts of derring-do nearly 15 years ago.

Storror, composed of brothers Max Cave and Ben Cave, brothers Callum Powell and Sacha Powell, Josh Burnett-Blake, Drew Taylor, and Toby Seglar, have previously been featured on the big screen in Bay’s Six Underground, among other films. But We Are Storror, receiving its world premiere at SXSW, gives them the starring role in a film that will have you clenching parts of your body you didn’t know you had.

There’s no trick photography, special effects, green screens, disguised wires or hidden platforms involved in any of the stunts shown in the film, which wisely begins with the onscreen warning “Don’t attempt anything you see here.”

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, parkour is defined as “the sport of traversing environmental obstacles by running, climbing, or leaping rapidly and efficiently.” It typically, but not always, occurs in urban environments. The documentary doesn’t really bother to explain the sport or go into its history, pretty much assuming that you know when you see it. And we definitely see it.

“Why is it worth risking your life for this one second in the air?” one of the team asks, presumably rhetorically. It’s certainly not the money, although Storror, who display as much talent for marketing as performing life-threatening feats, sometimes in the nude, clearly seems to have found an effective way to monetize their passion (check out their website).

The answer clearly has something to do with the adrenaline and joy that is on ample display in the documentary’s many action sequences. Except, that is, for the graphic moments in which mishaps occur, resulting in serious injuries including many broken bones. The whole film plays like the old “thrill of victory, agony of defeat” opening montage on Wide World of Sports, except with footage they would never have let you see on television.

The group’s globe-trotting adventures show them risking their lives in such locales as Portugal, where they scope out a possible new site for their stunts; India, where they face competition from similarly high-flying monkeys; Bulgaria, where they navigate an unfinished, abandoned apartment complex; and Hong Kong, where they, not surprisingly, run afoul of law enforcement.

The photography — employing color, black & white and slow-motion — is consistently breathtaking, from the drones that capture precisely synchronized movements from high above to the GoPro cameras, often worn by the team members themselves, that immerse you fully in the experiences.

Vintage home movies reveal that the team members were performing similar stunts as kids, likely before they even knew that what they were doing had a name. One describes their upbringing as “borderline feral,” although it’s clear that they’re now thoroughly professional when it comes to their work. We watch as they painstakingly prepare for their stunts, not only practicing their moves but also carefully removing nails, sanding down surfaces, etc., to avoid any nasty surprises.

They’re also painfully aware that time is catching up with them and that they have only so long to keep doing what they’re doing. “Our physical bodies are going to start letting us down,” one comments. “That’s something we’re going to have to get used to.” Burnett-Blake admits to being the most conservative members of the team, saying he’s beginning to lose interest in high-risk maneuvers. “It has a shelf life,” he points out.

Bay attempts to enhance the high-flying stunt work with personal stories, with limited success. A segment in which one of the members describes the failure of his long-distance relationship with an American woman, for instance, feels like filler.

But there’s no quibbling about the spectacular acrobatics on display as the seven men defy gravity and all odds to propel themselves around and above any obstacles put in their way. Leaping from one rooftop to another to another to the strains of the classic song “Up on the Roof,” they exude not only tremendous athleticism but also a camaraderie that feels completely genuine.