The first three minutes started off with inaccuracies, which left a bad first impression. We see Selena step onstage at what appears to be one of her sold-out shows. She’s wearing that famous all-white outfit she donned at the 1994 Houston Astrodome concert. The crowd is cheering as she begins to dedicate her “Como La Flor” performance to her fans. Seeing that, I initially became giddy because this felt like a celebration of the star.
However, as soon as the dedication began, I remembered this was the exact speech Selena gave a year later at her record-breaking Houston Astrodome concert in 1995. And as true fans know, she donned her iconic burgundy jumpsuit at the time.
What’s more? It was like watching the 1997 biopic all over again—you know, when J.Lo is in the all-white ensemble and sings “Como La Flor” to calm down the massive crowd. So as I was watching it all play out, I thought, “Why wouldn’t that scene take place at the Houston Astrodome in 1995? Why didn’t they put Christian in the right costume? Why wouldn’t they have featured a different speech if they were going to use a completely different setting?” In a scene that was supposed to be touching and emotional, it left me feeling anything but.
That was just the beginning of my disdain. Like the 1997 film, it feeds us the same story, except this feels more bland and basic. We even get the same quotes (over and over, I might add) about Madonna and Paula Abdul’s influence on Selena’s fashion in the late ’80s.
And we once again get that famous bus scene. Viewers see her future husband Chris Pérez (Jesse Posey) thrown out like a bag of old garbage after Selena’s father discovers they are in love. However, we never actually see what happens in the bus leading up to that shocking moment. (At least the movie gave us that.) I would’ve loved to witness that scene from either Selena or Chris’ perspective. Hell, I would’ve even understood if we saw it through A.B.’s point of view since he was close to Chris and brought him into the band. Instead, we are watching that entire situation play out through the eyes of Selena’s father… once again.