By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Bennett Raglin/BET
Music biopics are thrilling and entertaining. When it hits the movie theaters, box office numbers go through the roof.
The Michael Jackson biopic movie is released this weekend. We need time to determine where to rank the movie. It’s still early. In the meantime, here are the top five best musical biopics of all time. Whether you agree with the list or not, the important thing is that all of these movies are essential in their own way.
5) Selena
It’s almost thirty years since the release of the Selena movie. It’s based on the late singer Selena Quintanilla, who made a big impact on the music industry, especially in the Mexican and Texas markets. Sadly, her life was cut short at the age of 23. Many people learned about Selena through the movie and didn’t know who she was before she passed away.
Jennifer Lopez played Selena. It’s one of the few performances of Lopez’s acting career where she was incredible. Lopez’s career took off because of this movie. There was some scrutiny of the casting of Selena because she was Mexican, while Lopez is of Puerto Rican descent. It doesn’t matter much because Lopez studied and worked hard to bring the character to life, and she did it.
The real-life Selena had big dreams, and she was on her way to becoming a crossover artist. The movie will have you emotional, especially the ending. Edward James Olmos did a great job portraying Selena’s father, Abraham.
4) Straight Outta Compton
The movie is based on the impact of the hip-hop group NWA, with members Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, and MC Ren. The world earned the title, “the World’s Most Dangerous Group.”
They were known for aggressive lyrics and for telling stories about what they saw in their neighborhood. The industry hated NwA, and people were destroying their records. They rubbed some feathers, but they didn’t care to deliver the message through their music.
O’Shea Jackson Jr was great playing the role of his father, Ice Cube. Interestingly, it took O’Shea two years to portray the character. Straight Outta Compton does have its flaws. It makes the Dr. Dre character look like a superhero. We needed to see some character flaws in the movie. Also, there were some scenes in the movie that didn’t seem believable, like Eazy-E in tears seeing Dr. Dre on billboards while he was driving. Also, Dr. Dre punches gang members in the Death Row studio.
Regardless, the movie does a good job in many aspects from a directing and acting standpoint. We also can’t forget that the actor who played Suge Knight also did a great job.
3) Bohemian Rhapsody
Rami Malek delivered an Oscar-winning performance as Phoenix Mercury. One of the best scenes of the movie is at the end of Act Three during a live performance. Malek put this movie on his back.
It’s definitely one of the best biopics of the decade.
2) Elvis
The movie where everyone got to know Austin Butler. If it weren’t for Brendan Fraser, Butler would’ve won an Oscar for playing Elvis Presley.
As much as we know about Elvis, this movie gave us more insight into certain things we didn’t know about him, especially the relationship between him and his manager.
Some moviegoers weren’t fully aware of the chemistry between Elvis and his mother. Having those scenes between Elvis and his mom were great additions to the movie.
1) The New Edition Story
This one might be controversial and catch people by surprise. It’s not a movie, it’s a series, but it’s undoubtedly the best one ever done.
There have been many musical biopics. However, the New Edition one doesn’t give anything back, and it brings the honest, brutal truth to the ups and downs the R&B group went through together.
If you haven’t seen The New Edition Story, then I highly recommend it. The series premiered on BET and deserves a lot of love when it comes to music biopics. The work in front and behind the camera is outstanding.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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