Really Surprised!

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

It's hard to find fault with "Celebration Day", Dick Carruthers's document of Led Zeppelin's reunion concert on December 10, 2007. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham play just about every song you'd expect to hear (unless you were counting on a selection from Zep's final studio album "In Through the Out Door"), from 'Stairway to Heaven' to 'Whole Lotta Love', and even manage a deft first-time live rendition of 'For Your Life'. There are a few shaky moments but, to the band's credit, these were not corrected with overdubs; for the majority of the two-hour show, everybody's in top form. By the time they launch into 'Kashmir', Led Zeppelin are firing on all cylinders, and the grandeur of their performance is such that the 27 years which had elapsed between the group's last full-length concert and this one simply evaporate. It's a stunning moment to witness, even for those of us who weren't there in person. My only beef with "Celebration Day" is that the bass guitar is often buried in the mix: John Paul Jones's doomy intro on 'Dazed and Confused' sounds like it's coming from miles away. Jones, and the song, deserve better.

If you watch Celebration Day expecting a 70s era Led Zeppelin experience this probably isn't for you. Please enjoy a midnight showing of The Song Remains the Same for that. Led Zeppelin was a musical freight train then; they obliterated audiences with a power never before seen in rock music. Fast forward 40 years. The greatest hard rock band in history has nothing to prove. Celebration Day seems to me to be just that, a celebration. The remaining members plus Jason Bonham are there to pay tribute to Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, and they do it as only they can. This is an older, more mature Led Zeppelin. They still hold the same power, it just now comes at you with laser precision. They rock as hard as any band ever has, but with a relaxed confidence that proves why they were - and still are - the best. Kudos to the concert team for the throwback projections and old-school set.

I knew Robert when he was in his original Band of Joy (I went to school with Chris Brown the keyboard player). He was as charismatic when he was a nobody as he was in LZ and since. He filled any room he entered. He was always going to be a star. A great blues singer and performer he was made to front a great band - that WAS The Band of Joy. When they broke up and he ended up in LZ I was disappointed. I never really liked Page's electric guitar work though his riffs and acoustic playing were exemplary. JPJ was almost invisible in the Zep albums - the production could have been so much better. He is a wonderful musician. The Celebration Day concert was great, though, although Page's lead guitar work grated rather, he should stick to chords. I think it showed why the band was so successful and managed not to be a pale shadow of what they once were. Jason Bonham was every bit as good as his dad was - I first saw him play when he was about 7 or 8!! Nothing was lost from the drumming. The guys can be proud of themselves - thanks Robert for not agreeing to reform - a sensible and cool decision.

Plenty of highlights, and like most of their output, has a way of growing on you to an almost uncomfortable degree taking you on a miniature journey. As a rock audience, we've practically seen it all: multiple camera angles, audience noise, high-speed editing, close-ups, cameras in clear plastic balls, helicopter shots from above, giant video screens, wide angle shots, 3-D effects, and even fan-held cameras on the loose. After so many years of technological leaps and bounds finding their way to the big screen, it's downright hard to bring anything new or innovative to this medium.In this concert film we see what we need to see – the concert. And probably all the things that I wanted to see were up close and personal. This includes close-ups of Jimmy Page playing his classic sunburst Les Paul at just the right times, John Paul Jones' fretless bass and Page's skillful slide guitar playing during "In My Time of Dying," Jones' use of the rare 12-string bass during "Trampled Under Foot" and Page's use of the Transperformance guitar during "Whole Lotta Love." Awesome percussion by Jason Bonham throughout and Robert Plant's vocals hold up well. And those were just the technical/musical close-ups of real value. Add in the human emotion of Jones, Page and drummer Jason Bonham looking at each other, nodding and smiling when they were locked in to a tight groove. Not a dull moment, completely engrossing all the way through.This is definitely a film that is a must see.