In spite of a lack of special features, this Katy Perry: Part of Me release is worth picking up especially if you’re a fan of her work. It offers some insight into her life although while watching it does seem one is still kept at arm’s length in really knowing her.
Katy Perry: The Movie – Part of Me (2012)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Documentary, Music, Concert
Paramount | PG – 93 min. – $54.99 | September 18, 2012
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz
Cast: Katy Perry
Theatrical Release Date: July 5, 2012
DISC INFO:
Features: 2 Song Full Concert Performances, Featurettes, DVD Copy, Digital Copy
Number of Discs: 3
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Disc Size: NA
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A
THE MOVIE – 3.75/5
Starlet and pop singer Katy Perry broke onto the scene in 2008 with the album, “One of the Boys”, a long time coming after a couple failures in the Gospel realm and a basic hostage situation at Columbia with the company refusing to let her out of her contract. Thanks to an insider at the record company, she eventually landed at Capitol with the album reaching the 1 million in sales. Her rise to fame really didn’t come until her sophomore album, “Teenage Dream” which went on to sell 5.5 million copies worldwide and also accomplished something no one other than Michael Jackson has done: 5 singles reaching #1. Perry was also nominated for several awards and won for the Billboard Spotlight Award and International Album of the Year at the Juno Awards.
As if her music career wasn’t enough, to go along with movies as she’s stepping into Hollywood recently, now she hits the big screen with this music documentary, Katy Perry The Movie: Part of Me which chronicles her rise to fame via interviews with close friends, associates and family members and follows her as she embarks on her longest worldwide tour.
The movie is more or less a glossy episode of “Biography”, the television series which profiles various celebrities. Intermixed with the interviews is concert footage where Perry sings some of her hit songs plus some behind the scenes footage as she prepares for the show. It’s actually well put together as you not only get to learn more about the singer as an entertainer but also getting some background on her childhood, growing up in a religious household and the challenges she faced before ultimately finding fame.
Part of Me also, albeit at a certain distance, Perry’s relationship with then hubby, actor Russell Brand who appears here and there, although by film’s end, their marriage was also finished providing one more challenge for the singer and entertainer who was obviously devastated. It should be noted that in the 90-minute running time, this part of her life is covered for maybe 10-minutes, with most of the focus being on her background and the concert performance.
As a whole, Katy Perry: Part of Me gives a nice background and life story on the singer/entertainer and although it might feel you are at arm’s length, is still a fascinating glimpse into her life. I also got a better appreciation for the work Perry did in order to even get to where she is now with struggles both professionally and personally. If you are a fan of her work, then this is easily worth watching, otherwise I’m not sure how much one would walk away learning.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5
The 3D Blu-ray release comes with a glossy slip cover and the 3 discs are enclosed in a standard Blu-ray case. Inside is a Digital Copy code that can be either used on the UltraViolet website or on iTunes to place on your Apple device.
Full Concert Performances – There are concert performances for “Last Friday Night” (4:17) and “Waking Up in Vegas” (4:25). Unfortunately both only have Dolby Stereo tracks rather than DTS-HD MA.
Grandma: “Thinking of You” (5:57; HD) is a sweet featurette about Perry’s grandmother with some outtakes from her visit that was in the film.
The Grammys You’ll Never Take Away From Me (5:19; HD) is more bonus footage that probably didn’t make into the movie featuring preparations for her Grammy performance shortly after her divorce.
California Dreams Tour: Behind the Scenes (TRT 19:17; HD) seems to be some more bonus footage that didn’t make the final cut.
VIDEO – 4.0/5
The 3D part of this release is OK although the depth is minimal once you get outside of the concert footage and into more of the interviews. It’s not overused and is subtle enough but hardly necessary for this kind of movie.
Katy Perry: Part of Me, presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and 1080p HD, features bright colors, decent detail levels and no flaws in sight, which isn’t surprising since it was shot digitally. Some of the footage can get fuzzy but it’s minimal. The concert shots certainly come off the screen far better.
AUDIO – 4.5/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track can be a bit low key during the interview portions but when the music starts up, this lossless track certainly comes to life. It’s fairly loud but not blaring and is well balanced between each of the 5 speakers. For comparison, it probably matches the concert Blu-rays I’ve come across (i.e. Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Pink, Britney Spears Blu-ray releases).
OVERALL – 3.75/5
Overall, in spite of a lack of special features, this Katy Perry: Part of Me release is worth picking up especially if you’re a fan of her work. It offers some insight into her life although while watching it does seem one is still kept at arm’s length in really knowing her. The video and audio transfers are good even though the 3D might not be overly impressive, it’s still above par.
The Movieman
Published: 09/22/2012