Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger - London, New York, Johannesburg (2008) Reviews

• Good comedy; detracting edit gimmick

  thataceman2008-10-12

  Once again, Chris Rock doesn't disappoint. His hard-edged comedy hits the mark. This show has just enough truth, at least from a male point of view, to make it relevant and just enough raunch to make it fun. As for the editing style of interweaving elements from various shows, it tends detracts from the comedy. It's a gimmick — a gimmick the show doesn't need. When the switch from one show to the other takes place, sometimes in mid sentence, I find myself wondering what just happened instead of listening to Chris. Plus, it tends to ruin one of the basic illusions of stand-up comedy. When I watch a stand-up comic, I know that the material is scripted, but I still like to get into the show and maintain the illusion that it is improv. The editing style shows that various different shows were basically the same word for word. It destroys that illusion. I recommend the show for the material, but be forewarned about the editing style. It can be a bit unsettling.

• Kill The Editor

  iblboxing2008-10-02

  The editor of this special was so consumed with splicing footage and seamlessly meshing shows that he or she, in my opinion, got in the way of the act. Chris Rock deserves a special focused on Chris Rock the way George Carlin's specials focused only on George Carlin. This special had too much going on. The editing tangled feet with the punchlines. The outfit changes were jarring, as I found myself missing the jokes because I was too busy saying, "Now he's wearing a shiny jacket," or, "Now he's in Brooklyn." Not to mention the sound quality was noticeably different, especially when jokes were spliced together. It was all just so unnecessary. I would like to see Kill The Message from one stage, with one audience. But don't take my word for it. Watch it yourself.

• unsettling editing, at first, but there's some of Rock's best stuff here

  Quinoa19842008-09-29

  At first I thought the poster was like a chart of where Chris Rock had been performing, two of the three places for the first time (London, New York, South Africa... HBO). As it turns out, this is actually the method to the shoot of the show: edited together from three concerts in each of the areas listed, Rock goes through his material and sometimes a bit is inter-cut within an actual sentence (for example, Rock says the point of view from London, then New York, and maybe South Africa here and there). This technique is a little jarring, but only for a short while. Once it becomes part of the actual gig filmed, it's a successfully unique presentation by way of a special that tries something different. But the real reason to check out Kill the Messenger is because after four HBO specials (there may have been one half hour one I can't recall from the early 90s), Rock hasn't lost it in his timing or killer deconstructive language or point of view that remains barbed and ready to attack just about anyone: white or black, republican or democrat, male and female, job or career, everything is up for grabs and everything he presents is sharp and hysterically funny. And unlike Never Scared, his previous special, his bits on racism here aren't possibly watered down or not quite as sharp; if anything there is a particular bit on the "N" word that is an excellent dozen-years-later companion piece to "Black People Vs N*****", with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear when a white person can actually say it! It's loaded with insight and wit, from John McCain to Flava Flav to when to use properly contexted words, to just what goes on in a relationship and how difficult it pretty much always is. Bottom line, don't miss it, if you're a fan you're in for a welcome treat, and newbies will get knocked out.

• The law of diminishing returns strikes...

  toffeedragon-32009-07-09

  I have enjoyed all of Chris Rocks' specials having watched them all several times both on TV and DVD but this one is just plain annoying. Rock performs in three different locations during his tour, London, New York and Johannesburg and the producers saw fit to emphasise this with horrible editing that hammers it home by constantly switching the footage between the three locations. (Note to producers - you told us at the start of the DVD that it was the most successful comedy tour in the history of the world, we are capable of remembering this fact for ourselves without the constant reminders. In actual fact, I didn't care how successful the tour was, I just wanted to watch a Chris Rock stand up comedy DVD and have a laugh). If you haven't watched this yet I want to warn you that it is very, very distracting. Rock is wearing a different outfit at each location and the sound quality varies so you are halfway through a joke and the footage switches and becomes quieter and I ended up thinking more about how much the outfit and sound changes were irritating me than whether I found the jokes funny. The jokes themselves are not up to his own high standards set by the other specials and I think Chris Rock is starting the believe the hype and get big headed, hence less work on the material. The crowds at the three locations (remember that there were three locations in case you had forgotten since I last mentioned it) all seemed to be rolling in the aisles but I believe that they had all been drinking at the bar prior to the show and were just happy to be watching Chris Rock live rather than paying attention to what he was actually saying, which wasn't much. I give this show 3 out of 10 because I just didn't laugh much. I love stand up comedy and have many DVDs by a variety of different comedians and am easy to entertain but this just made me go 'meh'. Unfortunately, I am unlikely to watch this again. Chris Rock, please don't get involved with the hype and how much everyone 'loves' you. I know you've made your money and that you probably care less than when you started out on your career as you are now rich but if this will be the standard of your output for the future then please call it a day.

• Great Stuff

  harlemworldeva2008-09-28

  Chris Rock stand-up at its best here. Anyone who wants to pursue a career in comedy or thinks they are a comedian needs to watch this to see how to work a crowd and how to tell a joke. There were some of his jokes that were very poignant and not meant to receive raucous laughter yet his voice and the way he tells them make you laugh. The parts about the "n word" and "f word" rants were hilarious. And he is absolutely correct regarding the usage of both. If it's in a song, it's okay. If a person is acting bizarrely and you need to call them one, it's okay. It's the context, like Rock says. This was just classic stand-up here.