The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: ALL EYEZ ON ME

The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: 

on ALL EYEZ ON ME (2017, 139 minutes, R)

I sought enlightenment… and was disappointed.

Gangsta Rap became popular just after my time in high school and my exposure to the lesser known Hip-Hop performers.  My limited contact included some of the original inspirations and some of the founding members, the ones who paved the way to made it fashionable… from the Run DMC beginnings to NWA’s blossoming (yeah, word choice on a topic like this can be fun).  All that happened after seemed to begin to spiral away from the core message I had come to understand, kind of like this kneeling during the National Anthem kerfuffle.  It evolved into lyrics about the ‘ladies’ (translation… b%$ches and hoes) and money… and street cred.  Don’t think me too far from the hardcore, I will always appreciate Ice-T’s Body Count.  Not one to promote the shooting of cops, but his message was quite topical and a splash of cold water on the clueless masses.  He ruffled a few feathers and it was needed.

As an attempt for a much-needed biopic on things that need to be brought into the light, this one was way too ‘clean’ and fails to give any credence on the true struggle.  It held no sense of realism to the actual nature and life of Tupac and the things he experienced.  There were only quick glimpses and probably plenty of ‘white-washing’ of what really transpired.  STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON was a victim of said ‘scrubbing’ but it was still an entertaining story and you felt the vibe in the soundtrack.  The one thing I saw as eerie though, Demetrius Shipp Jr. was the spittin’ image of Tupac and he was about as genuine as you can get with this limited script.

With ALL EYEZ, I was hoping to understand more about the shift in the mainstream Hip-Hop.  I just don’t think this film captured Tupac’s life story and the message he really was conveying, something they tried to pound into you in the dialogue.  After thinking on it, I just couldn’t shake the sense that the story was full of holes, and not the ones typically found in a life story film.  The one thing I DO want now is a full, unedited biopic of Suge Knight.  I believe his crazy-ass story cannot avoid the ‘thug life’ found in that period’s music.  This is the biopic we deserve.

Grade: C-