The VeloBoy and I settled in last evening to watch The Collective. It’s part of a genre I’m familar with from my time in the outdoor biz: Bro crowd gets a sponsor, loads up a motorhome, does things most folks only want to watch, videos same, sells video. Repeats.
Not my thing, usually. But I’d been hooked by the online teaser, which features some interesting footage. So I finally got around to watching it. The verdict: It’s…okay.
One thing distinguishes it from the typical bro bud movie: It was shot on 16mm film, and it’s obvious that the filmmaker cares about craft. So technically it’s a few notches above the typical outdoor adventure epic. And there are some outstanding segments – the city-as-trials course was amazing. But a lot of it is predictable – pseudo artsy shots of riders winding through fields, down mountains, and catching air.
And it left me with one burning question: What’s up with pushing bikes uphill? I thought the point was to ride them.