Who is the Audience for This Movie?

Fans of rap music.

What I Liked About This Movie

Being a fan of Biggie Smalls the aspect of the movie I enjoyed the most was the music. You are treated to a handful of freestyles and concert scenes that feel very authentic. Even though it is an actor on the stage instead of the real Biggie those scenes still brought a big smile to my face.

I expected the music sections to be good but I definitely did not expect the movie to show both the good and bad side of Biggies lifestyle equally. Since Diddy (former manager/friend) had his hands in the making of the movie I thought it might hide those aspects as much as possible.

What Didn’t Work For Me

I was very optimistic before I turned it on but there were just too many things wrong with it for me to actually enjoy it. For starters the visual style is all over the map with no cohesive look (besides cranked up contrast) to the collection of scenes you are presented with. I mentioned collection of scenes for a reason because that’s what this entire movie really is. Rarely is there a moment of actual depth given to the character instead your constantly treated to a handful of “this is what happened” scenes. On top of that instead of coming up with a clever way of splicing the scenes together you get a lazily written voice over. To take that thread a bit farther later in the movie to sum up his life they have a flashback montage showing the scenes you just watched which totally gives the movie a made for TV vibe which is not exactly what I think they were going for.

Should You Watch This Movie?

If you are a Biggie Smalls fan you will see this movie regardless but I would have much rather they made an all encompassing documentary instead. With Diddy’s involvement a documentary could have been much more in depth.

My Rating (Out of 13)

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