Movie Review - Blue Story

Andrew Onwubolu is a Black British rapper whose stage name is "Rapman." He grew up in London. He started making music but also got into posting videos and short films on YouTube. In April 2018, his web series called Shiro's Story went viral, receiving over 20 million views. Shiro's Story was a three-part series. The last part got over a million views in less than five hours. Rapman narrates the majority of the series using hip hop music. It's very similar to Emmy-nominee DeStorm Power's Caught: The Series (2017). All of it coming in the wake of the success of Lin-Manuel Miranda's work on Broadway using rap music as a way of telling various stories involving people of color. Based on the success of his web series, Hollywood producers offered Rapman various deals. He eventually signed with Jay-Z and his company Roc Nation. In November 2018, Rapman announced that BBC Films and Paramount Pictures were helping him to make a feature film based on the web series he did back in 2014 that's similar to Shiro's Story but was more autobiographical.

Like Shiro's Story, this feature is about two Black British boys in London who come at odds and even develop a deadly, gang rivalry that stems in large part over a girl. This feature though lessens the dispute over the girl and makes this more about what's called the "postcode wars" or what might be called in America a "turf war." Rapman said the feature was inspired by things in his own life. He was born and raised in Deptford, which is a neighborhood in southeast London, near the river. However, he attended secondary school at a Catholic institution about 6 kilometers away in another area called Peckham. Rapman said when he got to that Catholic school, other kids would bully him because he wasn't from that area. The kids there are really territorial, which is not that uncommon from American films about black, inner-city gangs, such as in Boyz n the Hood (1991). There's also been several, British films over the past decade or so about gangs and criminal activity in London's council estates.

Stephen Odubola stars as Timmy, a young black teen living in Deptford but he attends a Catholic school in Peckham. He has three friends with whom he spends the most time. They seem like average teenage boys. They tease each other and talk about girls. They laugh and seem to have a good time, but Timmy is reminded that he's an outsider or not from Deptford when he comes across some gang members called the Peckham Boys because of where they live.

Micheal Ward co-stars as Marco, the best friend to Timmy. He's able to help Timmy when the Peckham Boys start to harass him because Marco's brother is himself a gang member. Things get reversed because Marco goes with Timmy from Peckham to Deptford. In Deptford, Marco sees Timmy talking to guys who are friends of Timmy's brother. Those guys are gang members too but of that area, but they're simply called Ghetto Boys. When the Ghetto Boys learn that Marco is from Deptford, they get upset, but Timmy calms them down, although not enough.

The teenagers go to a party where Timmy finally connects with the girl on whom he's had a crush. She's Leah, played by Karla-Simone Spence. He later falls in love with her and she with him. They first bond over Game of Thrones. They spend time together in school and afterward. Their bond becomes even more intense because they lose their virginity to each other. That bond starts the night of the party, but, an incident involving gang violence also happens the night of the party, which begins the rivalry between Timmy and Marco. That rivalry will also have Leah thrown in the middle of it, literally.

Rapman as a writer handles it all really well. He escalates things in a skillful way. Crazy violence usually breaks out in Rapman's work. Yet, it's clear that the violence isn't gratuitous. It's never violence for violence's sake. Rapman is doing it for a purpose. Typically, that purpose is violence begets more violence. He also is making a point about revenge and how it usually results in the demise or destruction of the person who seeks it. It's an obvious point that has been made, but Rapman is doing it in a way that often isn't used. He utilizes the genre of rap music and does a gritty, black gangster film in a musical way. It's very creative.

It would be easy as an American to compare this film to other films from the United States like Boyz n the Hood. However, there is a selection of films that depict the Black experience in the United Kingdom, particularly the urban experience and the confluence of gang violence. Some might already be aware of the TV series Top Boy (2011). Yet, some films include Bullet Boy (2006) , Kidulthood (2008), My Brother the Devil (2013) and Gone Too Far! (2014).

Not Rated but contains language and violence.

Running Time: 1 hr. and 31 mins.

Available on VOD and DVD.