Review of All Eyez on Me (2017) by Andrea M — 16 Jun 2017

Tupac has always been a favorite rapper of mines; so naturally, I was beyond excited for this film. When I heard that there were issues with John Singleton leaving as the director, I became hesitant; still I refused to let the behind the scenes politics of the film get in the way of me viewing it. Ultimately, I was satisfied. A movie has been made about Pac! The rapper, the actor, the poet, the activist, the philosopher, the legend. Unfortunately, this movie was not as legendary or epic as similar hip-hop biopics that have been made recently, such as Notorious and Straight out of Compton. Therefore, I consider it somewhat of a missed opportunity.

Let's start with the positives. The actors/actresses did an amazing job. Demetrius Ship Jr. made me feel as if I was watching Tupac in the flesh for the entire film. This man doesn't just look like him, he portrayed him tremendously! Everyone else did great as well, such as Danai Gurira for Afeni Shakur and Dominic L. Santana for Suge Knight. Dominic L. Santana is the best Suge Knight portrayal that I have seen to date. Moving on to the story, I appreciate that the filmmakers placed much of Pac's life story into the film, starting with before he was even born. Tupac's family background of Black Panthers had a strong influence on his life, and I am glad that it was at least recognized. The film also did a great job with costume design and overall cinematography.

Now, on to the criticisms. This film was a missed opportunity. The actors were great, the story was pretty good but it wasn't enough. I appreciate the movie dwelling into Tupac's childhood, and even his mother's struggles before he was born, but there could have been more emphasis on these segments. Tupac's story is EPIC. This man's story begins before he was even born. His mother was a Black Panther who was in prison while pregnant with him, and represented herself in court to fight a life sentence against conspiracies to bomb New York police stations. He grew up in some of the roughest neighborhoods throughout his childhood, and found a love in theater, acting, and music. I would have appreciated more of his childhood being shown. In addition, more should have been shown about his adult life, not mostly his legal troubles. His death and the aftermath could have also been elaborated. Tupac's story would benefit from a movie that is just as long as Titanic by James Cameron or a miniseries broken into at least three parts. I understand filmmakers have to be concerned with budgets, so this may have been difficult to do. Also, I do feel that effort was placed into the film to honor Pac's legacy based on what was included, therefore I am not bashing this film as if it was a Lifetime biopic. Still, I left disappointed that there wasn't more. I will add this movie to my collection because I love Pac and I appreciate the time and effort that was placed into making this story, but I am hopeful that more of his story may be told in the future.