User Reviews

I will say this: I'm glad I watched till the end because it was sketchy there for a second. For a good 80% of the movie I was watching one extended rap video. Take 90% of the hottest rap songs and make them into a movie and that's what "Belly" was for the majority of the film. Robbing. Killing. Selling drugs. Smoking weed. Womanizing. Glorifying money. And all of your traditional rap-song set pieces were there too: nice cars, nice homes, jewelry, and an occasional trip to the ghetto to show authenticity.

Finally, they got to a message beyond all of that nonsense. The pervasive message was knowledge of self which should equate to abandoning all of the social and physical poisons out there for one to forget knowledge of self.

The message is good, but is that what remains? You spent 80 minutes of a 90 minute movie showing the glamor of a crooked lifestyle and the abundant ignorance of just about every character without there being a sane or righteous voice. Then, in the last ten minutes you add a moral compass to offset the superfluous misguided activity of before. Is anyone going to remember that the movie was about more than "gettin' money?" I hope so.

I can't really give you a plot outline for the film, since I was beating myself in the face with a blunt object every ten minutes. Although, I can tell you the little bits that I got from it. Two gang members are living the high life, with sex, booze, drugs and money. Soon they both realize that they are heading down the wrong path, one wants to go back to Africa to get in touch with his roots, and tries to convince his girlfriend to join him, while the other gets all religious.

I was told to watch this film because it was, and I'm quoting, "The Black Scarface". Let me say that this is not anywhere near the calibre of Scarface. The one and only way I can ever see someone making this strange comment would be because in one particular scene, they directly ripoff Scarface. It involves a man who is on drugs seeing on video cameras strangers entering his house. He grabs guns and then goes on a killing spree. Exactly like Pacino in Scarface. The guy doesn't even make it out alive, he dies, like Pacino from behind.

Nothing in this movie is worth commenting on, I'm hurting right now trying to write this review because I have to think about the film. Why is it that rappers think they can have an acting career? LL Cool J can pull it off because he is actually decent at acting. The people involved in Belly give Busta Rhymes a run for his money as worst rapper actor. DMX, who is in random martial art flicks (Cradle to the grave, Exit Woods) is playing the exact same character he does in every other movie. Seen one, seen them all. Nas for some random reason wants to go back to Africa in the film, I found myself on the floor in tears, both fro laughter and sadness. I don't think he raises his voice once in the entire movie.

Hype Williams, is a music video director. He directs rap videos, which is evident here because this movie is just one big overly long rap video. If Williams were to have more films under his belt, he may be able to reach Uwe Boll's credibility. Yes, this movie is worse then House of the Dead, or even Alone in the Dark. I rank Belly as the second worst film I have ever seen, the worst goes to the atrocious Carnivore.

There is no substance to Belly, it tries to be all style. The opening sequence isn't ALL that bad, but it isn't good either. My entertainment level went from mediocre to negative zero after the first robbery. It never recovered and I'm kind of ashamed to admit I've seen this trash. Belly gives Showgirls and The Matrix Revolutions a run for their money for the worst sex seen in cinema history. It's over before it begins and you can't make out what is even going on.

With a horrible script and director that has no credit to his name, you'd think the movie would be bad...but this goes beyond that. It's as if when the director had nowhere else to go with the movie he would throw in random shootout scene, simply to add more minutes to the already too long running time (which isn't even that long, but it sure as hell seems like it). Nobody in the cast makes an effort to entertain us or even try to be remotely believable. Here's a suggestion for Williams and his future film making, if there is any future film making. Get real actors, not your friends. Also, try filming a movie with a decent script that is easy to follow. Belly goes all over the place with random events. More then once I was sitting there wondering who this person was and why they are on the screen.

So if you happen to see this sitting on the shelf at your local video store, do yourself a favour and rip out your eyeballs for even looking at the box cover. The only thing that this is good for is taking a bat to it, or flushing it down the toilet, maybe even leaving at a friends house in hopes it will never come back. I was haunted in my dreams the week after watching Belly and every now and again I get a headache when someone mentions the film. I'm taking Tylonol Extra Strength right now finishing this review up. Let's just hope the so called sequel never sees the light of day.