It took me weeks to do it, but I finally caught the Christopher Wallace biopic "Notorious." The film actually starts with the infamous night in Cali where he was gunned down, and then flashes back to his youth and everything afterwards that happens (appropriate, considering the whole myth about how your whole life flashes before your eyes before you die). We see he was actually a pretty privileged kid who was fascinated by the whole notion of making money and getting what all the other kids had. He starts selling crack, and getting involved with less than stellar people. He raps on the side, and decides after getting arrested a couple of times, to make it his main focus. We see him meet Tupac for the first time, record his first album, meet Lil' Kim, all the usual jazz.
How much (if at all) you enjoy the film really depends on how view Biggie's actions. It certainly isn't very comforting to see him sell crack to a pregnant woman, or see him fool around on EVERY woman he hooks up with, or go ballistic on Faith Evans on hearing about possible infidelity from her. But then again, are ANY music biopics not without some fair share of controversy? The performances are a mixed bag, with not everybody looking the part, but still giving it their all. Jamal Woodard does a pretty damn good job channeling Biggie's charm and mannerisms, although I can't say the same for Angela Bassett's portrayal of Voletta, his mother. You might be irritated with her slipping in and out of a Jamaican accent, plus she really needed more screen time. Does one man really need to see so much of Lil' Cease? One person we DID see a lot of (and boy do I mean it) was Lil' Kim, played rather well by the quite attractive Naturi Naughton. She was a part of that awful group 3LW, but I'll forgive her for that). The guy who played Puff Daddy did a good job, despite not really looking like him. Tupac's actor could have been better, but the film barely uses him so it's not a large issue. Same with Faith Evans, though I can't say the same for looking the part when it comes to her.
There are several things that are left unanswered in the film that might irk real fans, such as why he chose the name Biggie Smalls, or why there isn't more time spent showing him making his records. Again, they're forgivable, but it's still disappointing. One can hope that they'll be covered on the DVD release of the film.
Overall, it's an enjoyable film and even with it's problems, a good tribute to one of the best rappers that we ever bared witness to. I hope that Woodard gets some more work after seeing his performance in here. Guy might have a career in acting if his rapping career doesn't take off (and it doesn't seem to be from what I can tell). I'd give about 7.5/10.
And now for the next review...
I had meaning to pick up this game for years since I'm a huge Capcom fighting fiend (I still own Rival Schools and Pocket Fighter for PS1) and crossover games of any sort have always intrigued me. One of our local Babbage's was closing, and lo and behold, there was a used copy of this bad boy going for $12.99. I figured to give it a shot, and figured at it's worst, it'll provide me with a cheap thrill until Street Fighter IV comes out.
What we have here is a collection of 5 factions featuring 4 characters to represent each of them: Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter III, Darkstalkers, and Red Earth (a game that never even saw release over here). There's also a new character named Ingrid, who was supposed to appear in the now canceled Capcom Fighting All Stars. Each faction has their own unique merits to them, such as higher damage, custom combos, EX-moves, airblocking, etc. The fights are one on one, and after a round, you can choose to stick with your current character or switch to another one for the next round (something their rivals SNK introduced in the King of Fighters games).
I'll start with the positives:
-It's pretty cool to see Capcom give some nods to old fan favs like Jedah, Rose and Alex.
-The new stages are pretty to look at.
Now I'll go with the negatives:
- Why is this called EVOLUTION? That implies that things, I dunno, evolve? Change? Every sprite and character here is recycled, with the exception of Ingrid. Were the artists getting lazy? Hell the only artists here who weren't lazy are the folks at Udon, who drew every character's ending. Those look great. The characters don't.
-All of the fighters aren't balanced very well. There are plenty of ways to be cheap here. The Red Earth characters are pretty much disposable, with the exception of the hulking Hauzer (A DINOSAUR WITH CHICKEN FEET).
-There is very little replay value. The only things to unlock are two characters, characters' theme songs from their debut games, and...well that's it.
The game just feels very rushed. I've seen packs of Mugen that had more time put into them than this game did. Actually, that's what this game feels like. A really shitty version of a Mugen fighter (google it if you don't know what I'm referring to).
I can forgive Capcom for this though. I think even they feel kind of ashamed with this one. It isn't in Japanese arcades anymore, and they aren't packaging new copies for stores anymore either. If you're an absolute completest, then by all means pick this up. You'll get a couple of days' worth of enjoyment out of it. If you're not, save your money for Street Fighter IV. Or go find a copy of Capcom vs SNK 2.
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