You should see ‘The Walk’ in 3-D or not at all

Over the weekend, "The Walk" expanded beyond Imax 3-D screens into regular movie theaters so you can see it without any of the add-ons.

Don't.

For the most part, 3-D is a menace designed to suck an extra $3 or $4 out of moviegoers' pockets. But the technology is legitimately the only reason to see the story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who, in 1974, sneaked to the top of the World Trade Center, illegally strung a wire between the towers and walked from one to the other.

In fact, "The Walk" may be the first movie that would play better if you skipped the first 90 minutes or so of its 123-minute running time.

That way, you'd miss Petit's back story — and Petit's narrating that back story from the Statue of Liberty's torch with the sort of wide-eyed innocence of a children's birthday party entertainer.

You'd miss the metric tons of hokum.

You'd miss a caper that isn't nearly caper-y enough.

You'd miss Petit's repeatedly calling his trespassing a "coup" and "a work of art," when he isn't saying things like this about his walk: "I gather the courage to whisper. I whisper so the demons won't hear me: It's impossible, but I'll do it." Whatever you say, buddy.

You'd also miss some mime action, which everybody except mimes can agree is a good thing.

But in 3-D, the scenes of Petit's balancing on that wire some 1,300 feet above the ground are pretty spectacular. Like "Gravity" before it, they've reportedly induced vomiting in some moviegoers. They're honestly the only reason to see "The Walk."

Otherwise, save yourself some cash and fire up the Petit documentary "Man on Wire" on Netflix or Amazon Prime. It's a much better look at the exact same story.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter: @life_onthecouch