If you're giving this movie great reviews, be honest with yourselves - you probably wanted to see your favorite hip-hop stars and favorite hip-hop director do a movie.
The performances were not stellar; they were not even noteworthy. The saddest part about the cast is that you liked them before you saw the movie. You probably wanted the movie to be good so badly that you convinced yourselves that the "actors" were doing anything more than just reading their lines.
I would give the plot 4 out of 10. Not only is the basis of the plot unoriginal, but it also reinforces the (incorrect) idea that us blacks will sell drugs and commit crimes until the Nation of Islam comes along to rescue us from ourselves.
Even sadder is the fact that the real actors in this film could not shine because they had such poor co-stars. I've been reading through the crap that you folks are trying to support the film with, but this was a self-serving film for the main starts and directors- more concerned with making a hip-hop movie (by the way "hip-hop" is NOT a legitimate film genre), full of big names in music, than creating a solid motion picture. It fulfilled a "superstar" prerequisite by giving everyone involved at least one film credit, and sadly convinced DMX that he should keep "acting."
So, you've got a cast that's short on acting abilities, a director that could care less, and a target demographic that will try to convince themselves that their heroes were great in the film, just because they like their music. This was a win for the filmmakers because their money would be made by music fans, not film fans, and you have proved my point with your overly positive reviews. Rather than see the film for what it is, you are digging deep, trying to find a way for this debacle to somehow serve a purpose. Give it a rest. Just ask yourself, if the acting was of the same caliber, but without the famous names, where would this film have ended up? The answer: it would never have been seen.
The performances were not stellar; they were not even noteworthy. The saddest part about the cast is that you liked them before you saw the movie. You probably wanted the movie to be good so badly that you convinced yourselves that the "actors" were doing anything more than just reading their lines.
I would give the plot 4 out of 10. Not only is the basis of the plot unoriginal, but it also reinforces the (incorrect) idea that us blacks will sell drugs and commit crimes until the Nation of Islam comes along to rescue us from ourselves.
Even sadder is the fact that the real actors in this film could not shine because they had such poor co-stars. I've been reading through the crap that you folks are trying to support the film with, but this was a self-serving film for the main starts and directors- more concerned with making a hip-hop movie (by the way "hip-hop" is NOT a legitimate film genre), full of big names in music, than creating a solid motion picture. It fulfilled a "superstar" prerequisite by giving everyone involved at least one film credit, and sadly convinced DMX that he should keep "acting."
So, you've got a cast that's short on acting abilities, a director that could care less, and a target demographic that will try to convince themselves that their heroes were great in the film, just because they like their music. This was a win for the filmmakers because their money would be made by music fans, not film fans, and you have proved my point with your overly positive reviews. Rather than see the film for what it is, you are digging deep, trying to find a way for this debacle to somehow serve a purpose. Give it a rest. Just ask yourself, if the acting was of the same caliber, but without the famous names, where would this film have ended up? The answer: it would never have been seen.