Review of "Notorious"

So yesterday I went to check out Notorious, the new movie that focuses on the life of the Brooklyn rapper Biggie Smalls. I listened to quite a bit of biggie coming up, his influence was nationwide by the time I was in middle school. His album Ready to Die dropped in 1994, alongside other classics like Nas' Illmatic, and Outkasts' debut. Biggie's delivery always came across to me as raw, effortless, yet very to the point. Just like Biggie's lyrics, the strong suit of this film is money, b*tches clothes, and luxury.

This flick isn't meant to be a deep character study of Christopher Wallace, as much as a stylized overview of what his life was about. Much like his music, it comes across as a smooth, attractive look into the world of Biggie Smalls.
The Casting is on point, of course starting with Jamal Woolard who potrays Big in the film. He seemed to almost embody the role, and there weren't any parts that looked forced or overplanned.
(Woolard pulled it off as "Biggie")

The few misses for me were acctually the big names,
Angela Basset as Big's mother, and Anthony Mackie. Although they're easily the most recgonizable names, they're performances seemd somewhat flat. I mean Angela Basset did a half @ss attempt at a Jamacian accent, I just wasnt feeling it.

I would like to feel on the chick that played Lil Kim, Nautri Naughton. Let's just say she did her own stunts in this one!! I also found out she's one of the original members of that group 3lw from back in tha day. Lil cease was hella young too, I mean he looks 12 tha entire movie!

The music of course was great, mixing classic bad boy records, with some of Jamal's own covers of songs. Being a studio rat, I wanted a little more on the production side of things. I mean they play the original "Juicy" sample, but they just never really explain more than that.

Overall I give tha movie an ehhhhh (3 out of 5). Like I said the movie looks and feels great, but its really nothing new . It is entertaining for those that followed his career, and hopefully for those that want to know more about Chris Wallace. I think its an admirable look at the life and tragic end to Biggie Smalls.