| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B- |
|
|
| Acting: |
C |
|
|
| Direction: |
B+ |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A- |
|
|
Visually Intoxicating rapper showcase.
by Yahoo! Movies User (movies profile)
Jun 28, 2007
3
of
3 people found this review helpful
Hype Williams, acclaimed music video director has outdone himself. This movie has style to spare with a super big ass S. The visuals, the filming and the editing is all brilliant. This film is so visceral and mind blowing that I couldn't help but love it.
Okay - the story is thin and isn't exactly original stuff and the acting leaves much to be desired but these guys aren't actors - they're the cream of the hip-hop crop. Nas and Method Man probably do the best acting and DMX is easily the worst but it doesn't matter. I must say that NAS's brooding performance is much better than I would've though him capable of. His rapping is some of my favorite (at least his early stuff) and I'm not a huge hip hop fan but Nas has great philisophical, self meditating lyrical skills that are poetic and often mesmerizing. He brings some of the same intensity to his acting. His quiet performance is very welcome. Method Man is just off the wall crazy and The Dark Man X is so full of pretentious arrogance that his acting comes off over the top and hammy. But again, it doesn't matter. This is all about style. Any statements that the film tries to make are lost in the flash but the ruminations on friendship aren't totally lost in the fray.
Not really compelling, though some of the scenes are haunting visually and tell a lot more than dialogue ever could. Williams seems to know his limitations and his skills. His loud, glitzy style is certainly an asset. Critics naturally bash this film for it's lack of substance and originality and the defective acting but maybe they're hating. Looking for something that Hype doesn't care about delivering. Belly is about none of that, really - though it gets heavy handed and preposterous at the ending - thanks mainly to DMX. Nope, this one's all about the flash and trash. Violent, irreverent, bloody, full of sex and drugs and foul language this is certainly a guilty pleasure. A decadent production. And I liked it. I fell under Hype's intoxicating spell. So should you. Not for everyone though...you should at least have a tolerance for the hip hop culture before even viewing this...but if you do then this is a movie you won't want to miss. |
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