While parts of the film are just about as manufactured as Perry`s entire sugar-laced, bubblegum pop image is, there are moments of honesty in which we get to see Katy Perry as a daughter, a sister, a wife, and even what she was like as a 15-year-old girl writing songs on her guitar long before she got radio famous. Interviews with Perry`s friends and family pretty much cover all the filmmakers want us to know about her life from her make-up artists and managers talking about her sky-rocketing career, to her parents talking about their daughter`s transformation from her Pentecostal Christian upbringing to the semi-sweet sex-kitten image she has now.
Part of Me also showcases clips from Perry`s live performances that were shot in 3D the over the top costumes, cartoony sets, equally insane fans. Although hardly any of her live songs are played all the way through, which is disappointing given the impressively elaborate stage sets and toe-tapping, dance-along fun that make up her live shows.
In the midst of all that behind-the-scenes madness is the charismatic centre that is Katy Perry herself. The doe-eyed, occasionally-blue-haired singer`s infectious charm makes it hard not to like her. As her family and friends attest to her awesomeness and fans celebrate her success, Part of Me also chronicles the ups and downs of Perry`s personal life how hard she worked to get her career going, her relationship with her family, and her sudden divorce from comedian Russell Brand. It`s a real tear-jerker at some points, we`re not gonna lie.
The emotional high point of the film comes when Perry has to pull herself from a crying fit over relationship difficulties with (now ex-) husband Russell Brand to carry on with her Sao Paulo show; she ascends via a mechanical riser onstage to the sounds of the crowd cheering for her in Portuguese Katy, eu te amo. We`re by no means Katy fans like the screaming teens we see in Part of Me, but her fans relate to her in the same way that most of us have, at some point, gone to gigs and screamed our lungs out for our favourite band or singer or life hero. And even if Perry`s music means nothing to you, seeing the adoration her fans shower her with comes as a reminder that Katy Perry has made her mark.
Summary: Although Part of Me is kept pretty vapid and sugar-coated by its PG rating (which, let`s be honest, is very uncharacteristic of Katy Perry), it`s still a really fun movie that you don`t have to be a diehard Katy Cat to enjoy.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Zimin Ho