Kanye West ‘Runaway’ Spoilers and First Impressions

Kanye West screened 'Runaway,' the 35-minute motion picture accompaniment to his fifth album, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,' in London and Paris this week. Reviews have mostly been favorable and heavy on the spoilers, so the BoomBox decided to share some of the film's biggest surprises.

The flick is actually narrated by 9 tracks off 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.' West stars as himself in the film which he has described as "the story of a phoenix fallen to Earth," while his suspected real life love interest Selita Eubanks stars as the fiery bird. Nicki Minaj, with British accent, does the spoken word narration for the film, which is also dressed in French subtitles.

West slams the media in his opening line, "First rule baby, don't pay attention to what you see in the news." There's a homage to Michael Jackson in form of a procession mid-film. During the London premiere's Q&A West said he was provoked by 'Purple Rain, The Wall, Michael Jackson's Thriller' and was hoping 'Runaway' translated into a modern interpretation of the epic rock-inspired music video films. West, who heavily channeled ancient Roman art in his 'Power' video, does so again with a Last Supper-esque sequence followed by a ballet dance number. The filming took place in Prague and clocked in 20-hour days.

West plans to package the film with his album release on Nov. 22. A world premiere is in the works, according to the BBC, within the next two weeks.

Pinboard Blog

The film may not be everyone's cup of tea as the storyline can seem quite abstract in places but it is overly made up for in the soundtrack, some of the cinematography, the set design, costume design and just the idea alone.

The Hip-Hip Chronicle UK

One word to describe the movie: Epic. It's abstract and I think fans will enjoy it ...