In recent years, the big-screen concert movie has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence. This has occurred mainly thanks to teen idols, as flicks from Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber made sizable profits.

Those two might be the exceptions to the rule, though. Their success ensured imitators, but none of the others did as well. Concert films from the Jonas Brothers and the cast of Glee couldn’t make it to $20 million. Even a 3D Katy Perry release with a good summer distribution date topped out around a mere $25 million.

Of all these acts, only Perry holds any appeal to me. Indeed, I saw the tour in question, as I caught a Perry show when she came to my area in the summer of 2011. This left me curious to see how the “California Dream” tour translated to film via Katy Perry: Part of Me.

Don’t expect a straight concert flick here, though, as Part combines stage footage with documentary elements. Actually, the latter dominate, as we get many comments from Perry as well as managers Steve Jensen and Bradford Cobb, stylist Johnny Wujek, makeup artist Todd Delano, assistant Tamra Natisin, sister Angela Hudson, brother David Hudson, parents Keith and Mary Hudson, photographer Mark Hunter, friends Shannon Woodward, Mia Moretti, record producer Glen Ballard, former Columbia publicist Angelica Cob-Baehler, former Capitol Records CEO Jason Flom, and singers Jessie J, Rihanna and Adele.

As for stage performances, we see parts of these songs: “Teenage Dream”, “Hot n Cold”, “Hummingbird Heartbeat”, “Who Am I Living For?”, “I Kissed a Girl”, “ET”, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", “Last Friday Night (TGIF)”, “Peacock”, “Not Like the Movies”, “The One That Got Away”, “Firework” and “California Gurls”.

In addition to these modern elements, we get plenty of archival footage of Perry. We see her from childhood through teens and at various stages in her career.

Although I originally compared Part of Me to modern concert films, it’s really more like a much tamer version of Madonna’s Truth or Dare than anything else. Part devotes a great deal of time to Perry’s biography and personal side; it almost revels in its look at the disintegration of Perry’s marriage to Russell Brand.

This leaves the concert footage on the sidelines more than I’d like. The “California Dreams” show was a fun one, and I’d enjoy a good representation of it on home video. Not only does Part omit substantial portions of the concert, but also it truncates the songs; you’ll find no unedited/uninterrupted tunes here. “Firework” and “Gurls” look complete, but they’re not; while they lack the obvious chopping of the others, they’re still abbreviated.

While I remain disappointed that Part lacks great focus on the concert stage, it’s still a pretty interesting movie. Yeah, at times it comes across as an homage to the Greatness That Is Katy. After all, it launches with video testimonials from folks who tell us how Katy inspired them, and the concert scenes can’t resist copious shots of adoring fans.

It’s definitely not as frank as Truth or Dare, though one gets the impression that Perry keeps a tight enough lid on things that she’d not allow such a “warts and all” portrayal. It’s nice that we get comments about her travails in showbiz and her super-religious upbringing, but there’s nothing to compare with the “I don’t give a crap” attitude Madonna showed in her documentary. There you got the feeling that Madonna was willing to let it all hang out; love her, hate her, she didn’t care. Part comes with an “officially authorized” feel that Truth or Dare lacked.

It does seem more frank when it gets into Perry’s breakup with Brand, though. Again, I suspect this hit the screen with Perry’s approval, and these scenes ultimately go back to the portrayal of Perry as always Being There For Her Fans; I don’t think Perry would allow anything that would potentially make her look bad.

Nonetheless, it’s startling to see the depths of her depression and how this affected the tour. Apparently she and Brand split while the show was in South America, and to see it told here, this nearly harpooned the concert, as Perry couldn’t stop crying. It’s fairly remarkable to see how Perry struggles to get herself together before she takes the stage; I’d love to check out a complete video of that particular concert.

In the end, Part of Me is a decent hybrid concert film/documentary, but it’s not a great one. There’s too little live footage for it to satisfy viewers who want to re-experience the “California Dreams” tour, and the behind the scenes elements usually feel fairly superficial. As a Perry fan, I enjoyed the movie, but I think its approach limits its rewatchability. I’d have been happier with a more straightforward concert flick.

By the way, if I die young, I’m going to blame the noxious goo that came out of the water gun during “California Gurls”. I don’t know what that slop was, but it coated me and it was disgusting. It combined with copious amounts of confetti to turn me into a sticky, glittery mess for days.

Katy Perry: Part of Me appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. No substantial issues affected this presentation.

Overall sharpness seemed good. A few minor instances occasionally cropped up in wide shots, but the movie usually displayed very strong clarity and definition. No concerns with jaggies or shimmering occurred, and no print flaws marred the image; as one would expect from a brand-new flick, it lacked specks, marks or other defects.

Hues looked great. The candy-colored world of Katy popped off the screen and created the transfer’s highlights. The movie offered a dynamic palette that sizzled. Blacks were deep and dense, while shadows seemed clear and accurate.

Note that the film included a moderate amount of archival footage or components not shot specifically for Part. These go back to Perry’s childhood and encompass a wide range of materials. These look fine for what they were, but they didn’t match up with the movie-specific shots, of course. At least they didn’t distract, and this ended up as a “B+” presentation.

When I looked at the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, I thought the film went with a fairly standard “concert mix” that favored music in the front speakers. Actually, it offered quite good stereo imaging up front. I could easily differentiate the various instruments, as they all received appropriate placement while they still blended together well. The surrounds mostly added musical reinforcement and cheering. The use of the back speakers for the songs occasionally seemed more involving than usual, but this stayed with fairly typical usage most of the time.

Audio quality was solid. Vocals were concise and natural, and the instrumentation seemed lively and dynamic. The track boasted very nice low-end, and highs came across with solid clarity and verve as well. This was a more than adequate mix for a concert documentary.

A handful of extras fill out the set. Of particular interest, we get full concert performances for two songs: “Last Friday Night” (4:17) and “Waking Up in Vegas” (4:25). As indicated, we see both of these tunes in their entirety. Quality is good but not great; definition can be a little iffy in wide shots, and the stereo audio isn’t as dynamic as the main movie’s 5.1 track. Nonetheless, it’s great to get some complete renditions of song. I hope Perry gets around to a Blu-ray release of the whole show at some point.

Next comes Grandma: “Thinking of You”. It goes for five minutes, 57 seconds and shows Katy’s visit with her paternal grandmother. The two chat a little and we see Perry do Karaoke at a local senior’s event; she plays her own “Thinking of You” which segues into a partial concert performance of the same song. This isn’t a fascinating bit of cut footage, but it’s decent.

The Grammys: You’ve Never Take Away From Me lasts five minutes, 19 seconds and shows the preparation for Perry’s 2012 Grammy performance. We see rehearsals and some other elements – but alas, the disc doesn’t include the actual performance. That makes it mildly interesting but unsatisfying.

Finally, California Dreams Tour: Behind the Scenes provides six featurettes. These include “5, 6, 7… Oops… 8” (3:32), “BFF” (2:40), “California Dreams Tour Tattoo” (5:49), “Surprise!” (1:57), “Celebrities” (2:17) and “ET” (3:02). We hear from Perry, brother David Hudson, manager Bradford Cobb, friend Shannon Woodward, assistant Tamra Natisin, and singers Adele, Miranda Cosgrove, and Rihanna. The pieces follow Perry’s attempts to become a dancer, her relationship with her best friend, the presence of a “tour tattoo”, a celebration for Cobb, encounters with and testimonials from celebrities, and the sales of the “ET” single.

“Oops” and “ET” are the only genuinely interesting clips here. The latter gives us a glimpse at the business side of Perry’s career, and “Oops” is a refreshing admission of Perry’s weaknesses as a dancer; given the usual “everything’s awesome!” tone found in this sort of clip, it’s nice to hear recognition of Perry’s struggles to dance. The other pieces are watchable but fluffy and not especially compelling.

A second disc provides a DVD copy of Part. This appears to be a retail version, but it includes no extras.

Katy Perry: Part of Me provides a mix of biography/documentary/concert film. It offers an entertaining look at the singer but it’s not wholly satisfying, as I think it’d work better if it focused on one area, not three. The Blu-ray provides strong picture and audio along with a smattering of decent supplements. Part of Me will work for Perry fans but seems unlikely to stretch it appeal beyond that demographic.