(Note: This is NOT Aaliyah. This is the actress Alexandra Shipp that played Aaliyah in the movie)
Okay this is my first ever review so just bare with me.
On November 15th was the premier of Lifetime's Biopic of Aaliyah. When I found out months ago about this movie I freaked out! I actually almost cried.
So a few days before the movie premiered I was on facebook and people kept posting how the movie wasn't going to be good because of the girl they chose the play her. I was reading some of them and I said to myself , "I should just watch the movie for myself and see what I think about it." I didn't get to watch the first showing of the movie because I wasn't home, but I did watch it when it came on again at midnight but, before I saw it I saw more post saying that the movie sucked. I still didn't let that phase me, so I watched it.
Overall, to me, it wasn't that bad. It could of been better and here is why:
A lot of people had a problem with the actress they chose. At first Zendaya Coleman was chosen to play Aaliyah but, she dropped out of the movie because of reasons (I think it was because she didn't think the movie was going to be good or something like that) So Alexandra Shipp was chosen for the role. People were saying neither Zendaya or Alexandra looked like Aaliyah. First, it was the skin color. Aaliyah wasn't dark, but she wasn't light, she was some where in the middle, but you couldn't tell until you have comparison pictures.
The gorgeous Aaliyah
Zendaya and Aaliyah
Alexandra and Aaliyah
Of course with different lighting and the camera flashes skin color does change a bit but my point is I see where everyone is coming from. For some weird reason if there is a movie going to be made about someone and they are some what light-skinned Hollywood always picks an actor that is lighter then the actually person. I don't know why it's like that, but I feel like there are some many factors that goes into picking someone for a role and we may never know all of the factors that went into it. So I understand why something like skin color wouldn't be as accurate as the public wanted it to be.
For the way the actors looked, I feel that they could of found someone that looked more like Aaliyah, but when they are put in the same clothing (well not the EXACT same) as Aaliyah they looked pretty good to me.
Zendaya and Aaliyah
Alexandra and Aaliyah
Another big reason why nobody really liked the movie was because they didn't reenact any of Aaliyah's music videos. That may not be an obvious reason, but if they did that the movie would get a lot more positive feedback. Just like Crazy, Sexy, Good: The TLC Story that premiered on VH1 staring Keke Palmer and Lil Mama reenacted some of TLC's music videos.The reason they didn't do it was because Aaliyah's parents didn't want to give them the rights to use her music, so they couldn't even use her songs which meant Alexandra had to sing the songs herself and she did a beautiful job. She didn't sound like Aaliyah but she sounded amazing! To be honest, I was hoping that they were going to reenact one of her music videos, but they were able to reenact her live performances which I've never seen before. (Note: I was 4 years old when she died)
People felt like there wasn't a 90's feel to it and honestly, I didn't feel it either. Even the other characters that played R. Kelly, Missy Elliot, and Timberland didn't even look like the actual people. (I'm not going to look for the pics of them because I don't care) At the same time I wasn't paying attention to the atmosphere of the movie, but if I don't get that feeling from the movie without having to look for it then it wasn't there.
I feel like that the movie mistakenly portrayed Aaliyah. Of course, I don't know what her life was like, hence the reason for this movie, but I think they made her seem like she was just a workaholic. Now, of course, I could be wrong and she probably was a workaholic, but I feel like she was more playful in her life. I do understand why it was like that though. She died young, so there wasn't too much of her life that was exposed to the public. If it was someone that has been in the entertainment industry for many many years then they would be able to get into more detail and be more accurate with the movie. I also feel like the movie was told through the eyes of other people and their memories which makes sense. Of course, in every scene there was someone there that had that memory with Aaliyah. I don't know if they sat down with the people that was with Aaliyah through her lifetime (lol get it) but I like to think that they did. So if they did then whatever scenes that was Aaliyah and her mom it was told through her mom. If it was her and her dad it was told through her dad. If it was her and R.Kelly then it was told through R.Kelly.
I wonder how R.Kelly felt when he found out that she died. Like how she felt when she found out that he got married. I wonder if he still loved her.
Overall, I feel like that they did the best that they could with everything that was going on. If you haven't seen the movie yet and you would like to see it and have your opinion then here are the times:
Monday (today): 8:00pm
Tuesday: 12:02am (weird timing)
Saturday: 6:00pm
On Lifetime
In January there is going to be a Biopic of Whitney Houston. I think that a lot of people aren't going to watch it because of this movie and to be honest, I don't think it will be good but I'll watch it and do a post like I did this one.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post because I had fun making it! Tell me what you thought of the movie.
Okay so bye!
<3Sara<3
A lot of people had a problem with the actress they chose. At first Zendaya Coleman was chosen to play Aaliyah but, she dropped out of the movie because of reasons (I think it was because she didn't think the movie was going to be good or something like that) So Alexandra Shipp was chosen for the role. People were saying neither Zendaya or Alexandra looked like Aaliyah. First, it was the skin color. Aaliyah wasn't dark, but she wasn't light, she was some where in the middle, but you couldn't tell until you have comparison pictures.
The gorgeous Aaliyah
Zendaya and Aaliyah
Alexandra and Aaliyah
Of course with different lighting and the camera flashes skin color does change a bit but my point is I see where everyone is coming from. For some weird reason if there is a movie going to be made about someone and they are some what light-skinned Hollywood always picks an actor that is lighter then the actually person. I don't know why it's like that, but I feel like there are some many factors that goes into picking someone for a role and we may never know all of the factors that went into it. So I understand why something like skin color wouldn't be as accurate as the public wanted it to be.
For the way the actors looked, I feel that they could of found someone that looked more like Aaliyah, but when they are put in the same clothing (well not the EXACT same) as Aaliyah they looked pretty good to me.
Zendaya and Aaliyah
Alexandra and Aaliyah
Another big reason why nobody really liked the movie was because they didn't reenact any of Aaliyah's music videos. That may not be an obvious reason, but if they did that the movie would get a lot more positive feedback. Just like Crazy, Sexy, Good: The TLC Story that premiered on VH1 staring Keke Palmer and Lil Mama reenacted some of TLC's music videos.The reason they didn't do it was because Aaliyah's parents didn't want to give them the rights to use her music, so they couldn't even use her songs which meant Alexandra had to sing the songs herself and she did a beautiful job. She didn't sound like Aaliyah but she sounded amazing! To be honest, I was hoping that they were going to reenact one of her music videos, but they were able to reenact her live performances which I've never seen before. (Note: I was 4 years old when she died)
People felt like there wasn't a 90's feel to it and honestly, I didn't feel it either. Even the other characters that played R. Kelly, Missy Elliot, and Timberland didn't even look like the actual people. (I'm not going to look for the pics of them because I don't care) At the same time I wasn't paying attention to the atmosphere of the movie, but if I don't get that feeling from the movie without having to look for it then it wasn't there.
I feel like that the movie mistakenly portrayed Aaliyah. Of course, I don't know what her life was like, hence the reason for this movie, but I think they made her seem like she was just a workaholic. Now, of course, I could be wrong and she probably was a workaholic, but I feel like she was more playful in her life. I do understand why it was like that though. She died young, so there wasn't too much of her life that was exposed to the public. If it was someone that has been in the entertainment industry for many many years then they would be able to get into more detail and be more accurate with the movie. I also feel like the movie was told through the eyes of other people and their memories which makes sense. Of course, in every scene there was someone there that had that memory with Aaliyah. I don't know if they sat down with the people that was with Aaliyah through her lifetime (lol get it) but I like to think that they did. So if they did then whatever scenes that was Aaliyah and her mom it was told through her mom. If it was her and her dad it was told through her dad. If it was her and R.Kelly then it was told through R.Kelly.
I wonder how R.Kelly felt when he found out that she died. Like how she felt when she found out that he got married. I wonder if he still loved her.
Overall, I feel like that they did the best that they could with everything that was going on. If you haven't seen the movie yet and you would like to see it and have your opinion then here are the times:
Monday (today): 8:00pm
Tuesday: 12:02am (weird timing)
Saturday: 6:00pm
On Lifetime
In January there is going to be a Biopic of Whitney Houston. I think that a lot of people aren't going to watch it because of this movie and to be honest, I don't think it will be good but I'll watch it and do a post like I did this one.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post because I had fun making it! Tell me what you thought of the movie.
Okay so bye!
<3Sara<3
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