Notorius Movie Review From The Zim..(2.5 Aura Rating)

Ok All Biggie Lovers...I will keep this as professional as possible:


Let me start by saying It isn't that Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls, aka The Notorious B.I.G., isn't a worthy subject for a bio film. A larger-than-life character (literally and figuratively), one of the great rappers and the victim of a senseless shooting, he's a pivotal person in hip hop and an icon who lived an illustrative story.

It isn't that Jamal Woolard, the newcomer cast in the seemingly unfillable role of Biggie, isn't up to the task. Like the man he plays, he's charismatic, menacing, funny, tender and immensely watchable.

No, the problem with "Notorious" is that it is a poorly made film on the most basic levels of craft.

I believe the directors name is Director George Tillman Jr who does a poor job of adding excitement to a story in my opinion. He demonstrates once again an inability to light a scene, elicit coherent performances, mount a smooth narrative or simply get out of the way and let what should have been an engrossing film unfold.

It's the little things (and some not so little ones) that kill "Notorious": the way the usually reliable Angela Bassett, playing Biggie's mother, slips in and out of a Jamaican accent throughout the entire movie; the way every article of clothing worn by anyone, even crack addicts on Brooklyn streets, is new and sparkly (Everyone had fresh Air Ones); the way Derek Luke and Anthony Mackie fail utterly to convey the charm or talent of their characters (Sean "Puffy" Combs and Tupac Shakur, respectively). Not that They didn't do a good job...just really hard to emulate those characters; The Fact that Lil Kim is made out to be a slutty Bopper who couldnt get a man if she paid them; The Fact that Lil Cease is 10 years old (At least he looks like it with the oversized clothing and 4"10 stature)when everyone else is 20 something years old; & The List goes on and on....

There's no sense of reality in the picture, no feel of the streets, none of the raw zest and spark that spilled out of Biggie's music. True there was truth in alot of the film and scenes I even felt carried good detail such as the scene where the mysterious man has on a red suit right before Biggie's death. Its kinda like fashion..."Where is the Pop" in the out fit...ya know? My Man Slick even asked me, "What did you want Zim, shoot-outs and people being shot?". No thats what I needed (wouldn't hurt though) to see but it sure just needs more elaborate illustrations of pretty much every scene.

Indeed, the only times "Notorious" truly comes to life is when Biggie is performing, whether on a street corner, in a recording studio or, most of all, in live performances, shocking, dazzling rhymes on top of undeniably smooth tracks.

What the picture doesn't do is make sense of the world it tries to depict, or even, truly, depict it. Biggie -- and, for that matter, Woolard -- deserved better.

I can go on and on about how this movie was average at best but there is no point...I believe maybe time going by would be the only thing that could have made this picture better or perhaps a series of some sort. 1 hour and 46 Mins. just isnt enough time to capture the life of someone this great in my opinion. Im just shakeing my head on this one for now...2.5 Auras on this one