Written by: Jeremy Haft & Eddie Gonzalez and Steven Bagatourian (written by)
Directed by: Benny Boom
Starring: Demetrius Shipp Jr., Danai Gurira, Kat Graham. Lauren Cohan, Jamie Hector
Rating: R
Plot
This biopic about rapper, actor, poet, and activist Tupac Shakur starts from his early days in New York City until his untimely death at the age of twenty five. Shakur's lyrics transformed him into an icon whose legacy continues to grow.
Verdict
This is a good summary of Tupac's life, but it fails to capture any deeper insight. While Demetrius Shipp Jr. looks eerily similar and the soundtrack boasts the hits you would expect, it's likely you already know the events the movie covers. This movie doesn't burrow into the mind of one of the greatest rappers, it merely lists the events in his life.
It depends.
Review
When I heard this movie announced on the heels of Straight Outta Compton (2015), it seemed financially motivated. Despite my reservation I hoped this would be good. Straight Outta Compton was much better than I expected. Check out my review. The '80s set story was still applicable and it told a story. It accomplished what this didn't.
All Eyez on Me has a great sound track. It includes a lot of the hits, but it fails to really capture Tupac. It's a wikipedia summary brought to the screen. We don't get to know the person. Why did Tupac create the Makavelli stage name? While the movie sets this up as a prison interview to try to provide a through line on the story and address why the events bounce around, there is no way to connect this into something cohesive. It's just a collection of moments, most of which we already know. The interview is often intrusive as the interviewer narrates to bridge the gap or direct the story.
This does provide a little bit of insight into his background and makes direct connections to how his life shaped his music, but that's as deep as we get. We don't know what he really wants. I know he put in a lot of work and was always in the studio, that's why his estate was able to put out so many posthumous albums, but the movie never captures that drive. We get a scene when he's still with Digital Underground wanting to record a track while everyone else parties and him writing in a hotel room surrounded by sleeping naked women, but those scenes are perfunctory.
This is educational. It's amazing what Tupac achieved in just twenty five years. Tupac fans will enjoy hearing the music again, though ardent fans won't learn much if any new information.
This movie portrays his run-ins with the law favorably to Tupac. While I don't know what happened, the 1993 run in with two off duty cops is described quite differently on wikipedia. This was the one instance where I wanted a second source on the movie as it seemed fictional. Also had to look up the acronym "THUG LIFE." I never knew it's definition for Tupac was "The Hate U Give Little Infants Screws [sic] Everyone."
I also don't know why Jada Pinkett Smith is portrayed in this. While she and Tupac were friends, their few interactions add nothing to the story. She did criticize the movie's portrayal of her relationship with Tupac. He never read her a poem and she never attended one of his concerts.
The biggest fans of this movie will already know the broad events. Focusing this on one event and including a couple of flashbacks would have worked better. I wanted know more about the person. We get an actor that looks like Tupac, we get the music, and we a life summary, but it doesn't add anything new or dig deep to reveal what drove Tupac. It has a great soundtrack though.
This could have focused on a recording session, dispalying Tupac's drive to create and working in flashbacks that create the foundation for his ideas. What this movie did was very safe and it shows.
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