An underdog story with intense rap battles

Rating: 7/10 (3 February 2017)

This is the only rap movie I've seen and I don't really listen to rap music (the extent of my rap knowledge is Kanye West and Eminem's 'Stan') so I'm not really qualified to review this movie but I'll give it a shot.
Man, rap music is hard! I hear people say that rap is annoying and it's not 'real music' because they're not singing, only speaking fast, but watching the scathing, cunning and brutal rap battles in this movie I shudder at the thought of trying to keep that pace. Not just the pronunciation but the thoughts, the innovation, the ad-libbing.
So, it's a music movie. In a way you could even call it a musical because characters spontaneously burst into performance like they do in 'The Sound of Music'. Mostly it's a standard underdog story. Eminem is a guy in the dumps, close to rock bottom, but he endures and rises to the challenge with his quick wits and his perseverance. He's not a bad actor and the character is sympathetic enough. Brittany Murphy plays a pretty but trashy love interest.
Most of all I liked the rap battles, especially the ones at the end. They were as intense as any physical fight scenes I've seen and had me pumping my fist in the air.