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Jun 15, 2017 · All Eyez on Me. Directed by Benny Boom. Biography, Drama, Music. R. 2h 19m. By Glenn Kenny. June 15, 2017. During his brief fireball of a career, the rapper Tupac Shakur was a galvanic,...
- Benny Boom
Jun 29, 2017 · “All Eyez on Me” tells the story of Tupac Shakur and how the child of persecuted black revolutionaries became one of the best and most scandal-plagued rappers in history.
Dec 24, 2015 · By Jonah Engel Bromwich. Dec. 24, 2015. Share full article. The rapper Tupac Shakur, shown in 1993, will be played by a newcomer, Demetrius Shipp Jr. Associated Press. A new biopic about Tupac...
Feb 12, 2021 · Vibe Vibe All Eyez on Me Straight Outta Compton. All Eyez on Me. The winning bid was a paltry $2,500. Twenty-five years ago, Tupac Shakur released his Death Row debut, a sprawling magnum opus that ...
- This Tupac Shakur biopic may be appreciated more by his fans than by newbies.
- All Eyez on Me Photos
- Verdict
By Edward Douglas
Posted: Jun 16, 2017 12:15 am
The legacy of Tupac (or 2Pac) Shakur has been kept alive for more than twenty years since his death, and the long-awaited biopic All Eyez on Me tries hard to separate the controversy from the contradictions in a movie that gets better over its lengthy runtime.
Prestigious filmmakers like Antoine Fuqua and John Singleton had originally hoped to make the movie, before it got bogged down in years of legal disputes, so the fact this movie even exists is quite remarkable. The producers finally ended up hiring Benny Boom, a director better known for his music videos--most notably for Nicki Minaj, 50 Cent and Akon--than his movies, and he does a decent job trying to encapsulate the life of a complicated artist.
The main reason his movie gets off to such a rough start is the decision to use the lame framing device of Shakur (played by Demetrius Shipp, Jr.) being interviewed during his 1995 prison sentence, and reflecting back on his life and career up until that point. This immediately gives the film’s first half a far-too overused biopic narrative that rambles through Shakur’s early life like a Wikipedia entry.
At times, the early part of the film feels more like a TV movie, not being particularly subtle about depicting the white people around Shakur as either clueless (such as his Interscope Records liaisons) or downright evil (just about every police officer shown in the movie).
Newcomer Demetrius Shipp, Jr. has the unenviable task of representing Shakur—a role played by Anthony Mackie in Notorious. Shipp not only looks eerily like the late rapper when recreating music videos or his acting roles, but he’s also able to perfectly mimic his mannerisms and way of delivering a phrase. This makes his performance feel like more than just an impression and makes you feel as if you’re watching his real life with its ups and downs.
The rest of the cast isn’t quite as strong with Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead, Black Panther) as Tupac’s mother Afeni giving an overwrought performance that pales in comparison to Naomie Harris’s similar role in Moonlight. Her character also disappears for a good chunk of the movie, negating the myth about Tupac’s closeness with his mother. In some ways, it’s more entertaining to watch Shakur interact with childhood friend Jada Pinkett (Kat Graham) over a few key points in their respective careers.
You may need to already have at least a tangential interest in Tupac Shakur in order to appreciate All Eyez on Me, because it starts off in such a traditional way and rather meekly. For non-fans, it might be tough to get through the movie’s first hour and to the “good stuff” contained in the second half. On the other hand, Demetrius Shipp Jr. gives...
Jun 16, 2017 · The film doesn’t seem to know how to make Tupac’s songs, already rich in narrative, cinematic. It’s filled wall-to-wall with a slew of greatest hits — “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” “So ...
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Glenn Kenny of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, saying: "Almost all the dialogue is that flat-footed. It's a stark contrast to the almost always vivid power of Shakur's own words, which could be profoundly empathetic and pettily profane."
