Review of Wild Style

Wild Style (1982)
Good as a rap & graffiti documentary, poor as a movie
26 January 2000
I had heard that Blondie was in this movie, but was disappointed to find that they didn't appear, although two Blondie songs were used as background music (including Rapture). Chris Stein also played synthesized guitar for the soundtrack. This film is very good as a documentary of the early days of old school rap (it's fascinating to see Grandmaster Flash & Busy Bee work) & graffiti (we get to see all the ugly subway train car logos we could ask for, & some of the beautiful wall murals), but in reality, the movie is only a pseudo-documentary. Real graffiti artist Lee Quinones (Lee) plays graffiti man Zoro in the movie, & Fab 5 Freddie tries to hook him up with Manhattan art gallery types. As a movie, the plot is childish, the subplot (Lee & Pink's romance) undeveloped, & the acting is, well, adolescent. As a documentary, I give it 8/10; as a movie, I give it 2/10; overall 5/10.
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