Quartile rating: 3.5/10 · 1 rating
Tells the story of Justin Bieber, the kid from Canada with the hair, the smile and the voice: It chronicles his unprecedented rise to fame, all the way from busking in the streets of Stratford, Canada to putting videos on YouTube to selling out Madison Square Garden in New York as the headline act during the My World Tour from 2010. It features Usher, Scooter Braun, Ludacris, Sean Kingston, Antonio "L.A." Reid, Boyz II Men, Miley Cyrus, Jaden Smith, Justin's family members and parts of his crew and huge fanbase in a mix of interviews and guest performances.
A fairly standard celebrity rise-to-fame documentary that follows the well-worn template of the concert film/music doc genre. The story of Bieber's YouTube-to-superstardom arc is engaging enough for fans but offers little narrative depth or structural ambition. Acting is largely irrelevant in a documentary context, though interview subjects are unremarkable. Cinematography benefits from solid concert footage and backstage access, hitting an acceptable standard for the genre. Novelty is low — the format closely mirrors countless other pop star documentaries with no distinctive directorial voice. The ending offers modest emotional payoff for fans but nothing memorable for general audiences.