Review by Jenny Priestley
Featuring Justin Bieber, Boys II Men, Miley Cyrus, Sean Kingston, Ludacris, Jaden Smith, Usher Raymond, Scrappy Stassen, Scooter Braun, Snoop Dogg, Mama Jan Smith. Jeremy Bieber, Antonio Reid, Randy Phillips
Certification UK U | US G
Runtime 105 minutes
Directed by Jon Chu
So yes, I was the Screenjabber team member who watched Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. It was my choice and you can decide whether I deserve a medal when you've finished reading this review.
If you've been living under a rock for the past 18 months, or if you don't listen to commercial pop, Justin Bieber is a teenage singer with a floppy hairdo who's driving all the prepubescent girlies wild. This film charts his rise to fame intercut with clips from his last big US tour and the days leading up to his gig at Madison Square Garden in New York. It features interviews with a host of stars including Usher, who's his mentor, Snoop Dogg and music mogul LA Reid as well as his family, his Mum Pattie who had him very young and raised him with the help of her parents, his manager Scooter Braun and the team that surround him while he's on the road.
What I found interesting were the home movies of the little Justin at age four playing drums or at age eight playing a guitar or at age 10 busking outside his local theatre. No matter what you think of his music, the kid has talent and a lot of it. We find out how he was discovered via YouTube and how he reached out to fans using Twitter, in many respects he's the perfect teenage star for the social media savvy kids of today.
As the film rolls on we get closer and closer to MSG and the final 20 minutes or so is all about what will be the biggest gig of this young man's life. This is where the film started to drag for me, I found the final 20 minutes very long and I didn't particularly care whether he played the gig or not. In fact I found the whole performance part of the film pretty trying at times and this is the part which has been shot in 3D, given Justin's fans an opportunity to get close to their idol. It gave me a headache! It didn't need to be shot in 3D, it doesn't really add that much to the film and the constant cutting between 2D and 3D becomes something of a strain on the viewers' eyes.
Overall, I'd say this is a must-see for any Belieber. If you're a parent being dragged along by your kids, I think there's enough there to keep you entertained for a good hour. It's a decent 'rockumentary' it doesn't offer anything particularly new in film-making terms but, on the other hand, it was certainly a better film than I was expecting going in. Oh, and expect to be singing 'Baby, Baby, Baby' for the next week!