Justin Bieber’s ‘Never Say Never’ Will Convert the Non-Beliebers
This past Saturday I had the chance to check out a prescreening of Justin Bieber‘s new movie/life story/concert experience/3D extravaganza “Never Say Never.” And while I may not be JBieb’s number one fan, like many of the other people there, I was totally impressed.
If you weren’t following me on Twitter this Saturday for a play by play of the afternoon, let me give you a recap!
The Recording Academy held a prescreening of the movie for it’s members and I was lucky enough to be invited as a member of Grammy U, a program for college students. The screening was held at the gorgeous Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood and gave attendees the chance to hear from Never Say Never director Jon M. Chu and Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun.
Jon Chu was able to say a few words before the movie began, explaining the movie was “for the fans” and that the “music tells an emotional story.” The Q&A session was unfortunately cancelled and Scooter did not speak.
The movie gave an in depth behind the scenes look during the 10 days leading up to Justin’s sold out performance at Madison Square Garden. They follow the emotional journey as Justin tries to recover from a throat infection, that leads him to cancel an appearance, visibly crushing the 16 year old. The movie shows Bieber at his most vulnerable moments and the extreme devotion of his fans. I personally have never seen anything like it and Island Def Jam president L.A. Reid said “Beatle-mania doesn’t compare.” The sense of wonderment and admiration from his fans was absolutely incredible and had the entire theater choking up to see how ecstatic the girls were when Scooter handed them a pair of free front row seats. For anyone who has ever loved a band, they know that feeling and how those girls will remember that night for the rest of their lives.
The movie was completely enjoyable, and touching at points but the hour and fourty minute run time was a bit too much. The concert experience portions mixed with 3-D effects was a complete sensory overload where many of the movie go-ers did not seem to know what to do with themselves. Even at Chu’s previous suggestion to “feel free to sing and yell” most of the audience was completely in awe of Bieber’s larger than life stage presence. Walking out of the theater, I felt like I had truly just walked out of a VIP Justin Bieber concert, complete with guest appearances by Miley Cyrus, Boyz II Men, Jayden Smith and Bieber’s cutie “swag coach” Ryan Good.
It’s obvious that this movie was made for Justin Bieber’s fan base, but I’d say that even those of you who may be dragged to the movie will enjoy it. You just might leave with a mild case of Bieber fever!
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