Member review

The British film that I am going to be reviewing was directed by a gentleman called Andrew Onwubolu, who is better known as a rapper by the name of ‘Rapman.’ The film's title is ‘Blue Story’ and initially, before watching the film, I expected the films plot to glorify the gang associated lifestyle that sadly many teenagers in London live. I possessed this expectation of the plot because of the negative media attraction the film gained in the first few days after its release. However, after watching the film, this preconceived opinion was proven wrong. The plot sees two best friends, Marco, and Timmy, end up on rival sides of the London gang wars as a result of conflict that broke out due to them having differing post codes. The narrative follows the journey of the two characters, exposing the truth behind the lifestyle, that there are never any winners in gang wars, only unfortunate victims. In relation to how easy the plot is to follow, I would say extremely, as though the narrative is engaging and full of drama, if you strip the storyline back, it is rather simplistic. Finally, in relation to the plot, I feel it is crucial to highlight that it is believable, it does not feel dramatized for impact, it feels chillingly realistic to people's lives in certain areas of London. Furthermore, I enjoyed the film as I feel it met its intentions by evoking a range of emotions within me as well as educating me on an extremely prevalent issue. Throughout my viewing of the film, I went from laughing so much I nearly cried to crying from feeling utter sadness: both emotions triggered by the outstanding acting throughout. Nevertheless, to ensure this review is transparent, I must confess that the special effects used when actors were seen to be ‘shooting a gun,’ were poor in conveying a realistic narrative in comparison with the other aspects of the film. This did cause a break of tension when the special effect was used in the film, as it appeared comical at a serious moment within the story. Despite this, I would certainly recommend this film as it educated me as a viewer on serious topics, while keeping me engaged in the drama aspect of the production. I would particularly recommend this film to teenage boys aged 15+ as they fall into the high-risk category of becoming associated with gang wars.