santegeezhe
Rock the Bells is an engaging and entertaining look behind the scenes at the Wu-Tang Clan's final performance with all the original members, including most infamously, Old Dirty Bastard. The film focuses mainly on the events leading up to the actual concert - the organization (or lack thereof), the backstage shenanigans, the chaos, etc. I was actually amazed by how chaotic the entire affair turned out to be, not to mention the complete ineptness of the promoter/organizer. Evidently it's something of a miracle that the concert occurred at all, or at least that no one was seriously injured, killed or otherwise bodily harmed. Between the equipment failures, security snafus, and understaffed/oversold conditions of the concert, this film makes for some serious edge-of-you-seat action.As for the music itself, the entire raison d'etre of this fiasco, it turns out to be largely disappointing. The highlight is most certainly rapper Supernatural's performance, wherein he proves that he can freestyle about anything; in this case, random items handed to him from the crowd. There's also some touching performance footage of him and his young son. As for the Wu-Tang Clan, sadly there's no performance footage to be seen, other than a brief clip at the end with voice-over narration. A tad disappointing to a Wu-Tang fan, but luckily the rest of the film makes up for the disappointing conclusion. All in all, 7 out of 10.
Corbett Lunsford
I was not familiar with the Wu-Tang Clan prior to this screening, and I'm only tangentially interested in hip hop culture, but after seeing this I have respect and awe at how strange and powerful the rap world can be. People love this, and now I see why. More important than turning me onto the music, though, was the film's impression to me of the humanness of rappers. I usually notice only how scary or self-aggrandizing they're trying to be, but we get to see their relationships with their children and friends in Rock the Bells. If you have a chance to see this in a theater, TAKE IT. I laughed harder and longer about this than any comedy flick in recent memory. And I was literally on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what happens next. A great movie.
dirtdingus
Masterful documentary.I saw Rock The Bells in Cardiff, Wales during our annual Film Festival and the crowd(who were a fairly mixed crowd of ages and cultural backgrounds) were eating it up. I love the movie and i can't wait for the DVD!!! Extremely exciting. Extremely funny. Extremely visceral- you can't help but empathise with Chang and Carlos's exasperation with the talent. Fascinating for anyone interested in concert promotion, the Wu-Tang or Alt-Hip-hop. Of all the reviews - i concur most with Craig Mathison's for The Age, Ausralia.One of the best movies i've seen this year.
michael-bordieri-1
"Rock the Bells" plays out with an almost Shakespearean flow, from it's tantalizing rising action, to its satisfyingly refreshing denouement. A documentary that follows Chang, a concert promoter, who aims to assemble one of the best hip hop concerts of all time, "Rock the Bells" achieves what many documentaries are incapable of doing: showing the participants as living, breathing men and women who actually endeavor to accomplish something. It not only documents the final time the entire Wu Tang Clan performed together, but also shows an inside glimpse into their private, and little-mentioned family lives. With its crisp filmaking, excellent producing, and flawless editing, "Rock the Bells" proves itself to be one of the best documentaries, if not films, of the year.
AD
