'Bodied' directed by Joseph Kahn boasts incredibly effective direction, using creative editing techniques to bolster its storytelling to unique heights.The film features known battle rappers in the scene and heart-racing rap battles to keep you on the edge of your seat;however, the movie does suffer from rather weak acting, muddled messages and its narrative structure.
Calum Worthy's erratic persona that he brings to each and every one of his roles is felt most negatively in this project, as his passion drives him over the top to produce an incredibly uncomfortable and awkward performance. The rest of the cast, whether actual actors, or battle rappers doing their best, give decent performances but ultimately make the film feel like more of a stage-play, or a YouTube video, with their starchy or overly- dynamic performances. This combination of over-the-top and starchy just doesn't work sometimes, and takes away some of the film's credence donated by the pulsating battle raps.
The film is not the best structured, leaving several loose ends and not saturating some of the stronger narrative beats brought up. This in turn makes it more frustrating when they focus more on aspects less earned, or less thematically relevant to the story they seemed to be telling. Where the film thematically succeeds is in its ambivalence. Is it okay for battle-rap culture to be unequivocally uncouth and vulgar for the sake of "competition"? Are people too sensitive about themselves when in reality it IS just a battle and not real life? Should battle rappers be punished for their words similarly to how Hollywood entertainers are punished on twitter? Bodied provokes these questions, and lets you think about it for yourself without ever actually picking a side. The issue with this is that the questions are addressed in the form of plot points, and because of their decidedly neutral standpoint, they focus more on the battle-rap, instead of the consequences, leaving much to be desired narratively.
Overall Bodied is entertaining yes, but also quite frustrating, due to its lack of focus and hap-hazard arrangement. The raps are 100 miles an hour, but Joseph Kahn and Alex Larsen needed to slow down and fully express themselves in a more holistic and cinematically resonant way.
