By: Dan May

Director – Jon Chu

Cinema Release – Out now

Certificate – U

Gays.co.uk Rating

It’s not often a movie will move its audience to tears. The film has to be beautifully made with a strong message and the ability to forge an emotional connection with the audience that will inevitably culminate in the tissues coming out to absorb any dignity.

As I walked out of Justin Bieber’s documentary/concert mashup Never Say Never, a group of teenage girls were struggling to hold back the tears. It was frighteningly similar to scenes held in the film’s 105-minute running time; scenes I’d shaken my head at in disbelief.

Never Say Never is a film I really wanted to hate. I’m one of the people who voted for Justin Bieber to go and tour North Korea, I’m one of the people who laughed at the video of him getting hit by a water bottle on stage, and I’m one of the people who would rather throw myself in front of a truck than sit through a feature-length film where not a single bad word is said about the teenage sensation.

But I found myself completely immersed in the story of the boy who went from humble roots in a nowhere town in Canada to selling out Madison Square Garden in 22 minutes (I felt obliged to include this fact considering the amount of times they mention it in the film). I found it difficult to feel anything other than impressed as I sat there watching this talented boy come second in a talent contest, obtain thousands of followers on YouTube and serenade Usher to the point the R&B superstar wanted to manage the youngster. The scenes that document his rise his rise to fame are actually, dare I say it, really interesting.

But such is the rapid rise to fame that the film glosses over some of the more intriguing bits of the Bieber fairytale. There is virtually nothing about his mother raising him on his own after his dad walked out on her 10 months after Baby Bieber was born. This makes it altogether more confusing when Dad appears at one of the concerts, with relations apparently amicable between teen superstar and his pa. Did they make up? Is Dad just back to make a quick buck? Instead of answering these questions, the audience is treated to Bieber wrestling with his stylist, throwing water on his security guard and slapping his guitarist. All in gratuitous and horrible crowd-pleasing 3D.

Bieber’s rise to fame is interlaced with his concert at Madison Square Garden (which sold out in 22 minutes) with brief cameos from the likes of Usher, Ludacris, Miley Cyrus and Boyz II Men. It’s really nicely put together, with some of Bieber’s hits providing a nice backdrop to the teen idol’s crazy life off stage. Unfortunately, Bieber is far more engaging as a star than he is a performer and the concert scenes are dull to anyone over the age of 15. The whole thing feels as though its just there to enhance the juggernaut that is the Bieber brand. Making it 3D means the teenage fans can reach out and touch the star they’ve been making shrines for over the last year and a bit; meaning box office receipts for this cash cow should be off the flip charts.

While this film is being pitched as a look at where the boy came from, it never explores any roads that could lead to tarnishing the squeaky clean image. And while Bieber raves about ‘following your dreams’, his rise to fame is so fast you wonder if the boy even had a chance to dream. I could savage this film and it still wouldn’t stop the legions of ‘Beliebers‘ (the official name for the army of fans) from filling the cinemas. Or I could say it’s the best thing since The Godfather and there’d be people who wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole simply because of the Bieber name.

It’s better than I thought it would be, but it could also have been so much more. Instead, it becomes nothing more than a live DVD, filmed in 3D and cut together with some nostalgia clips. And it’s going to take more than that to turn yours truly into a fanatical Belieber.