With a cast that includes the likes of Q-Nice, Da Boogie Man, Suave Gotti and Blacknile, “Hiphopbattle.com” is a film about, you guessed it, the music style affectionately referred to as “HipHop.” If any (or in some cases, all) of the above names do not ring a bell, then this film may be a little on the confusing side and will most likely be anything but your cup of tea.
The plot is a quite simple and cliched one… in fact it can be paralleled to almost every “coming of age” story involving sports. Devon is passionate for Hiphop (or insert any sport) and he wants to pursue “it” as a career. His family and girlfriend realize the limits to which this passion can be carried and urge him to consider a more normal, reserved life. Along the way there are some interesting scenes known as “freestyle battles” but there is no real substance beneath the glamour. Unfortunately the slow and predictable script drag and perplex until the end makes its welcome and obvious arrival.
Overall, “Hiphopbattle.com” is a film that strives to be much more about growing up and making the right choices in regards to your life than about singing into a microphone. While it does have the potential to achieve these goals it never actually reaches for them, rather it almost seems to rest on it successes in the “freestyle” ring much like any typical action film relies on its big explosions to cover up crater-like plot-holes. Maybe if the storyline were in the hands of more capable filmmakers, it would have reached deeper meaning and thereby been successful with its message.
