Review of All Eyez on Me (2017) by Wali R — 11 Jul 2017

Tupac has been my favourite rapper/artist since 1994 and I used to wake up and go to sleep with his music until I was 20. So this is from someone who waited 20 years for this movie, having the highest expectations and was not disappointed.

This film represents and portrays the tragedy of Tupac Shakur who embodies the tragedy of the average African American male from the ghetto, and is the legacy of slavery. There are no other words for me to describe the film of the life of its subject except for tragic and if you ever think you have a hard life watch this film and reflect on it and you will see that your life will never be as bad as his was.

He was born into the Black Panther movement in the aftermath of the Civil Rights movement to a family on America's most wanted list. He was raised by a single mother after being abandoned by his biological father and with his stepfather, a political activist, in prison. He watched his mother become a crack addict and he had to constantly move around the country.

When he made a breakthrough into music he was hated on by his community. He saw a 6 year old boy shot by a stray bullet which was aimed at him. He was beaten up by the Police.

He was shot 5 times and then set up for rape by his own so-called friends and imprisoned, where again he was regularly beaten by the guards. He gets released from prison but is a slave to the one who paid his bail.

He rises to superstardom and sells millions of records, briefly lives the high life only to be told later that he doesn't own anything but owes Suge Knight millions for everything he has given him.

He finds true love for a brief moment and as he makes plans for the future, his loyalty to his friends and his anger ends up once again being the cause of his downfall as he is shot fatally for the last time.

His music and lyrics were his life story and full of contradictions but they were sincere and genuine that is why they have the same impact over 20 years later. He worked hard and in 1 year he produced a catalogue of music to last a lifetime as he felt he had little time left, at the age of 25.

His tragic life was a self-fulfilling prophecy and you can see that there was never any way out when you watch it on film. The negative aspects of Tupac's life and music have to be understood in the context of the background and although they do not justify his behaviours, they help us to understand why he was the way he was.

The objective viewer does not and should not go away glamourising or admiring his lifestyle nor hating him but must go away feeling deep grief and sorrow for this tragic young man who had the potential to be a great leader. But he made the wrong choices and fell into the temptations thrown at him, destroying himself like so many other celebrities in other ways.

I have a few issues with the film but I still give it 10 out of 10 for its impact and realism.