Does it seem a little soon for a Biggie biopic? The Notorious B.I.G. was assassinated at age 24 back in 1997—a lifetime ago in the world of hiphop—and Notorious documents the transformation of Christopher Wallace from overweight, bespectacled teen to drug-dealing hood to hiphop icon.
Made with the oversight of Puff Daddy and Biggie’s mother, Notorious is quick to deify its subject—who in actuality was neither an exceptionally gifted poet nor a musical genius, but rather a pragmatist who saw hiphop as a way to escape a life of crime. As Biggie, Jamal Woolard expertly apes the emcee’s throat-clotted flow, and Naturi Naughton as Lil’ Kim serves as the film’s emotional center, whose transformation from neighborhood cutie to vicious sexpot is worthy of its own biopic.
Notorious doesn’t answer any of the really interesting questions, though: Who shot and murdered Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas? (Not Biggie, says Notorious.) Who the hell killed Biggie Smalls? (I dunno, Notorious shrugs.) Despite the movie’s bloat and sanctimony, it patiently tells its story—perhaps rightly—as if we’ve already forgotten all about the Notorious B.I.G.
clearly this was written by a whitey with no hip hop knowledge.
and the fact that I had to enter the word “negro” as confirmation to set up this account is pretty sickening.
for the sake of clarification, when I posted my first comment, I was referring to this quote from the review in regards to Biggie:
“who in actuality was neither an exceptionally gifted poet nor a musical genius…”
that’s inherently an ignorant comment.
Ned, if your man enough to claim that Biggie wasn’t that gifted of a poet, then your man enough to meet me by the flag poll at three. Any school in PDX. If my softball team doesn’t get kicked out of the bar league for being to drunk again this year, I plan on smashing a pitch by WM. Steven right into your face. You don’t deserve to have the same cool first name as Ned Kelly. I will best you at any and everything.
Tyler
To clarify, Ned is not on our softball team. It’s probably because he throws like a girl. And while I assume I like Biggie more than he does, you are more than welcome to hit the ball into my face once the season starts.
ezra
Ned = Boring liberal who loves The Decemberists. Leave the hip-hop movies or music reviews to someone else, please. This whole review was a joke from start to finish.