Critique- Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B

Like most, I grew up with the musical influence of Aaliyah. Her self-titled album is still one of my favorites today. Her music captivated me at a young age, because it was sweet and hard at the same time. It has that bumping hip-hop-filled beat, with her soft, beautiful tone breezing over it. Like the rest of the world, I was devistated when she passed. I remember seeing it come on TV, and being in shock. I didn't realize, at the time, how young she actually was, and now I'm older than she was when she passed. It's unfortunate that someone so young and full of life had to be taken from this world too soon. It is also unfortunate to lose such a humble and generous individual who possessed a beautiful gift. She wasn't just a singer, but an actress, dancer, and a woman with high dreams for herself. I envy that in her. I am motivated by her legacy.

Last night my timelines on all social media were filled with comments about the Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B movie, produced by Wendy Williams, and aired on Lifetime. WOW! There were SO many opinions... and most of them were negative. Well, here's mine. I don't really put much energy in to hating on things, but I will say a few critiques, both positive and negative. First of all, Alexandra Sharpp is a decent actor. I'm not a big actor critic, but I think she did fine. 

The singing, on the other hand is a different story. She is not Aaliyah, therefore, she isn't going to sound like Aaliyah. She sounded very musical theater to me, but she has a nice voice...it just was not fit to portray the great singer. But then again, that's what you get when you can't use the artists original music. They had to recreate it, and I guess that's the best they could do. Just be mindful, that Alexandra is not Aaliyah, so she's not going to be able to deliver the way Aaliyah did. 

I think there were flaws in the realness of the movie and how it portrayed Aaliyah's life. The actors did not resemble the actual stars, Timberland, Missy Elliot, R-Kelly, Damon Dash, etc. I can understand that this is just a movie, but... it wasn't that believable, especially for the actors portraying these great music celebrities. Body language is everything, and I definitely didn't buy it. 

Along with wishing there were less performance scenes, I also was hoping to see more in depth scenes of the creative process Aaliyah went through with different producers and artists she encountered throughout her career. I was hoping to learn something new...but that didn't really happen. Also, I did not like how the movie just ended.... it was just....over. Maybe, that was symbolic to the sudden death of Aaliyah. I don't know, but I was left thinking, "Wait?...that's it?!?" 

In conclusion, it was an ok movie. I had higher expectations, but then again, it's Lifetime. Even though I love watching Lifetime movies, I think taking on this kind of movie just wasn't a good move for the network. The critics are on fire! Everyone is throwing flames at the network and Wendy Williams. Welp, they tried. I do think Alexandra Sharpp is an exceptional actress though, and she should sing in musicals or on Disney. 


I wonder how Whitney Houston's movie will turn out....