When you have an artist as popular as Tupac
Shakur, it would be a great disservice to fans across the world to not tell
his side of the story. He impacted so many lives throughout his reign, and
still does twenty plus years after his untimely death. There was heavy debate
over the last few years, until production started, on how his life should be
told, and Lionsgate decided to take a crack at this legendary icon. The
best parts of All Eyez on Me is the casting. At times, it felt as if the
real-life persona of the characters were filling the roles on screen. Of course
the soundtrack is solid, or you wouldn’t be reading this review, but the higher
positive notes of the film are spread out and hard to find. This film can be
divided into two sections, with one labeled as horrific, while the other being
decent. The editing was the main, but not only, culprit that stopped this
feature from being the true stand out it was originally meant to be. Yet it’s
still able to focus on a few key elements that shine light on arguably one of
the best rappers of all time.
The first half of the film was a giant mistake.
Instead of it feeling like a film/biography, it was a dull interview with cut
away snippets of Tupac’s greatest hits. There was no balance to the pacing
either. As soon as a scene took off it would abruptly end, and then it would go
back to the uninteresting interview. To see sections play out in its entirety
would have been fulfilling, but the director, Benny Boom (Next Day
Air), decided not to take this approach. Instead, while some aspects in the
beginning had merit, the others had no real significance to move the story
forward. The film should’ve chosen a style to stick with, but it was on the
fence, switching back and forth and becoming jarring.
At least the role of Tupac (Demetrius Shipp Jr)
was spot on. Surprisingly, this is the actor’s first role ever, and he held his
own for the most part. The scenes where he was raising his voice to try to emit
passion were a bit cringe worthy, but his overall performance was where it
needed to be. The portrayal of Jada Pinkett (Kat Graham) was even
better. She was scary on screen in an effective way, in the form of a
respectable woman you need not ever double cross. Her scenes were brief, but
stood out more than expected. There were other great performances for the roles
of Suge Knight (Dominic L. Santana) and Snoop Dog (Jarrett Ellis),
but they still don’t hold a candle to the woman who brought Mr. Shakur into
this world, played by Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead). The film
started out focused on her and the world Tupac is from, yet the film didn’t do
a well enough job to explain his transition into the man he’s well known for.
In other words, in Pac’s early days, compared to the “Thug Life” persona he was
labeled to live, he came across as a passive man that enjoyed collecting
puppies. Then suddenly, he’s a militant activist through his words and actions.
It was just another bad transition that left you wondering where the jump in
character came from. That’s an incredibly important side to tell, but it was
overlooked for whatever reason.
After the never-ending beginning, which felt like 57
short stories, were over, things started to elevate the film into a compelling
story. I felt as if I was actually getting the story I knew, but from the full
perspective of the main star. If this was done from the beginning we’d have a
winner on our hands, but that’s not the case. It was always rumored that Tupac
was constantly playing a tough guy role and didn’t fit those shoes, and one
scene in particular painted that picture very well, with him engaging with
undercover cops. I think the best part of the 2nd half of the film
was addressing social issues that still plague our country today, greed,
self-hate, and the constant injustices that plague the Black community. Whether
this was done on purpose through the writing, or the words Tupac spoke decades
ago were real, they spoke volumes to my heart and soul, and called for action
in a productive nonviolent way.
Then again, the elephant in the room must be
addressed, and that’s regarding the true account of what actually took place
during Tupac’s rise and fall. While some scenes felt authentic and real, others
were clearly movie magic to fill in supposed gaps in the plot. As an audience
member, I don’t care whether the events that took place are good or bad. I just
want the truth told in stylish fashion. Early on this was an epic fail, as if
the director was practicing slow motion techniques. As a young man writing this
review I was never a diehard Tupac fan, though I did appreciate his music, but
if you were one of his passionate followers I’d imagine you’d walk out the
theater in rage.
6/10