The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Following up on the success of 2011’s rise-to-fame documentary, Never Say Never,  Bieber and co. return with another inside look into the chaotic life of the pop star in Justin Bieber’s Believe.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the documentary focuses mostly on 2012’s Believe tour.  Tattooed and sporting a faint hint of a moustache, the fresh-faced teen seen in the 2011’s Never Say Never is long gone and appears to have been replaced by someone who is much more aware of his superstardom and is jaded because of it.

Live concert footage, including the sight of Bieber flying down onto stage wearing large metal wings fashioned from various musical instruments, seeks to be the highlight of the picture and the significant amount of footage of screaming crowds and weeping girls, serves to validate that his fan-base is still alive and well, at the very least.

An assortment of interviews with Bieber’s long-time collaborators, his mentor Usher, manager Scooter Braun and producer Rodney Jerkins are also included, in addition to a one-on-one interview with the man-boy himself. 

Jon M. Chu, the director Bieber’s first picture and the creative director behind the Believe tour, attempts to show a more modest and an unassuming side to Bieber, but his efforts ultimately fail to uncover anything meaningful. The young star does, however, take some time out to make fun of his growing whiskers before moving on to talk about the importance of never giving up despite all of the hatin’.

However, given his most recent public exploits – a graffiti incident in Brazil, public urination and unpleasant run–ins with paparazzi among other things – the documentary feels almost fake and begs the question as to how selective this supposedly in-depth look at one of the biggest pop-stars in the world really is.

For all the film’s faults, however, the concert sequences are vivid and full of life, and Bieber fans are bound to get a kick out of them. Ultimately, though, the real question here is what’s the point? In an age where the lines between documentary and reality TV are increasingly blurred, Justin Bieber’s Believe offers very little that fans and haters alike didn’t already know and does little to satisfy the TV voyeur in all of us.