Review of All Eyez on Me (2017) by Brandon E — 10 Jul 2017

When I heard about this movie, I really wasn't as hyped as many people were. Yes, the actor (Demetrius Shipp) resembles Pac. However the crew behind this film left me skeptical. This project was in development hell for years due to creative differences. Originally John Singelton was helmed to direct however differences between the Shakur estate prevented them from filming. Now the director of this film is Benny Boom, a music video director with a couple movies under his belt. Not that I have anything against music directors (great example David Fincher as a good director) however directors for rap music videos really lack the substance and deal more with style. Boom's first movie Next Day Air sucked and his last feature was a straight to video sequel to Swat. That was something that had me worried. The second issue was that it was produced under CodeBlack Ent. This brand is synonymous with direct to video hood movies. When their not producing a Kevin Hart special, you most likely find someone pushing one of their dvds for 5 dollars at the gas station. I kinda snickered when I seen actor Clifton Powell show up, as he is an alum of Codeblack's filmography. The last reason is due to the fact that this film has 3 writers. Which means that the film will probably be incoherent.

So I arrived to this film with preconceived notions and the feedback from critics didn't help either. However when I started watching the film, I started to appreciated it. Shipp does a great portrayal of PAC not just in the looks but also the acting. He really brought that character to life. Dania Gurira does a tremendous job as Afeni Shakur, for a second I though she was Viola Davis. Gurira is really great at portraying this smart, strong militant mother. Her best line is obviously in the trailer when she tells Pac, the govt is going to give him the tools to self destruct. The music is good obviously, people were dancing in their seats. For fans of Pac, they would appreciate seeing this film as it is done from the perspective of those really close to the artist.

The pacing was both a good and a bad thing. Around the second half is when I started realizing the trickery. How this film, which is entertaining made me wonder why so many people panned it. The film basically highlights all the big moments in Pac's life and really nothing in between. So the film would spends 3-5 minutes in the 70s,80s would constantly jump from year to year within the 90s. When I realize what was going on, I knew pac, his mother and other characters due how they resemble their real life counterparts. However there's a scene when Jada Pinkett comes back to talk to pac after he performed "Hit Em Up". For a good minute I forgot who the character was due to the fact that characters come and go with this sporadic structure. A perfect example would be taking an action movie and fast forwarding to all the good action scenes. That's a perfect illustration, all the good moments with little character build up and nothing in between. Now Afeni Shakur is a stable character due to the fact that she is what help defines Pac's complex character.

The third act had me laughing. I don't consider this to be a spoiler, dude been dead for like 21 years. As many of us know, PAC is killed on the Las Vegas strip. So basically PAC and his crew attend the Tyson fight. One of Pac's dudes spot a rivalry in the casino, so they all decide to jump the dude. They then stop at the hotel for a brief moment before making a planned appearance at a Vegas Club. So we as the audience knows that Pac will get killed on his way to the club, however the build up and how the characters are literally foreshadowing his death is hilarious. There's a scene when he's leaving and his girlfriend "Quidada" is pacing to the door as if she read the script or predicted the future. Just because we as the audience knows the character's demise doesn't necessarily mean they have to be melodramatic. Because basically, none of the characters anticipated this to happen. So normally it would've been a brief conversation of where he's going and that he would be back. When he dies, out of nowhere the film starts playing gospel music. It was kinda out of left field.

Here's a movie that was designed to piss a lot of fans. As Tupac is considered to be a revolutionary amongst fans of hip hop. The film touches on the complex character through the two different styles of music, shifting from gangsta to rap with a positive message. Surprisingly for an artist who was known to spend countless time in the studio, we really don't see that. We see him in the studio performing his hit songs but we don't get the vibe that this is a guy who would rather live in the studio. Given the fact that Pac has released more records dead than alive.

All Eyes on me, has some great moments but when you start to realize the lazy interview process in use of narration and the rapid timeline jumps it feels a bit amateur. It's as if the three writers had a debate on what keys scenes they wanted to include from there screenplays and jumbled it together on film. As for me, if these guys keep making hip hop biopics I want the 2 Live Crew movie....C'mon Uncle Luke.