Review for Beyoncé: Destined for Stardom

Beyoncé: Destined for Stardom. And she certainly was.

Beyoncé Knowles is possibly the most successful performer today, having sold 120 million records, 16 Grammys (with 41 nominations the second most for a female artist below Dolly Parton), 3 Golden Globe Nominations, a Brit Award, Ivor Novello Award amongst many others. There is a feeling that everything she touches turns to gold and this documentary certainly proves that this is the case.

Her career started in the hugely successful group Destiny's Child who went on to have three hugely successful albums and a fourth one later on and created such hits as Say My Name, Independent Women and Survivor. Her desire to go solo began with a bang with her solo single Crazy in Love which was a global Number One and even won NME's Record of the Year (an award typically given to Rock or Indie songs).

Her acting career is covered in Austin Powers: Goldmember and Dreamgirls which garnered her much praise though it was her music career that is still her most successful aspect with her albums Dangerously in Love, B-Day and I am… Sasha Fierce all going to be huge US Number One successes and garnering her many hit singles including If I Were A Boy, Halo, Déjà vu and Single Ladies amongst many others. The documentary goes into all aspects of her career, her split and reunion with Destiny's Child and also her relationship with Jay-Z and their marriage.

The Documentary is hampered a little with the use of a narrator who sounds like he is documenting the case file for a Serial Killer rather than one of R n B's biggest stars. Only archive interviews with herself are featured throughout as well as interviews with Wyclef Jean, Prince and others. It is this point that is a little disappointing as it doesn't feel like a DVD that has been created, but just constructed from found footage. However, her story so far is told well and if I wanted to find out about Beyoncé it is a good place to start.

Live footage is extensive throughout, but seems to for the majority to come from the same concert and it would have been better if these (especially the ones only included as brief clips) had been included in full as an extra. The Single Ladies parody from SNL is perfect and it took me a while to notice that it was Justin Timberlake in the video. This segment alone is worth watching the DVD for. Of course the only real problem I have with this DVD is that it is not split into chapters and so there are no ways to get to certain songs or segments without watching the full DVD or fast-forwarding and this is a shame and it makes the whole thing feel a little amateurish, which it really isn't.

Despite this, Beyoncé Destined for Stardom is actually a pretty concise DVD that covers almost every aspect of her career and if you are a fan of hers there is a great variety of interviews, live concert footage and that SNL spoof that all Beyoncé fans will enjoy.