Review of Straight Outta Compton (2015) by Campbell P — 25 Jan 2016

These are the kind of movies that we need more of. Straight Outta Compton emphasizes a time where racial differences were handled with violence and prejudice towards African Americans and it couldn't have came out a better time.

We face this issue in everyday society due to controversial acts, such as the Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and Ferguson, Missouri shootings, just to name a few. The story follows the formation of popular late 80's rap group N.

W.A, and how their experiences in Compton, California affected and influenced them to make a record that goes against the police forces and prejudice of African Americans. What I love about Straight Outta Compton is that it doesn't back down on the important issues that occurred in their hometown.

We learn the background of the brutality that goes against them and how poorly they are treated by the police. As a result, I found myself getting really angry at this movie. The police were terrible to black people, they would search them, knock them down, and even kill them for no reason but pure prejudice.

There's a scene in this film where their recording manager flips out at the cops because of how they made the rap group lie on the floor and it's pure perfection. It not only sets the scene in which it took place, but it relates to what is going on in current events.

It doesn't work to the movie's benefit but it was a nice touch no doubt. The acting is fantastic in this film too; Jason Mitchell, Corey Hawkins, and Paul Giamatti were the standouts and were amazing to watch.

Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell are Oscar worthy I'd go as far to say. While O'Shea Jackson Jr. was good in the film he kinda did the exact same thing the entire movie and keep the exact same facial expression and it kinda felt repetitive.

Throughout this film you get to see how their fame gets to their attitudes and how they handle it in different ways. Ice Cube wants to show his own creativity but gets shadowed by Eazy-E, who is fame hungry.

Dr. Dre simply just wants to make music and express himself in the unique format of rapping for a right. Their stories were really interesting and fun to watch as they progressed. The music is of course phenomenal given that it's late 80's, early 90's, which was the big spark of American hip hop and rap.

If you are familiar with N.W.A's music or early 90's hip hop in general, I think you'll enjoy this movie more than others in a few ways. The problem I have with this film is its pacing. The first half I was super engaged and pumped up because it all moved at a fast pace and didn't feel rushed really.

But after their concert in Detroit, things start to slow down. It wasn't boring in any way it just felt longer and stretched out which felt kinda unnecessary. The whole Eazy-E sickness thing felt SUPER rushed and I couldn't have time to process what could happen until it did.

It just felt like it came out of nowhere. The complete ending of this movie was really well done, however. It ties into how the members are handling things now and where they came from the very end of the film's timeline.

Straight Outta Compton is not a perfect biopic, but it's a very fun one. The acting is great, the direction was great, the music was phenomenal, and even if it was a little slow at times it was enjoyable from beginning to end.

B+.