Director Benny Boom
Genre Biography | Music
Cast Demetrius Shipp Jr, Danai Gurira, Kat Graham, Jamal Woolard
Rating R
Release Date June 16th, 2017 (Tupac's Birthday)
“Tells the true and untold story of prolific rapper, actor, poet and activist Tupac Shakur.”
All Eyez on Me is a biopic chronicling the life of controversial rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur, born Lesane Parish Crooks, most commonly known by his stage name 2Pac, and is the first feature-film about his life. Born in East Harlem, New York, Tupac made his rise to fame after starting out as a backup dancer and MC for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground, which he eventually became an official member of before going solo and launching his impressive career. Benny Boom directed the film, who previously directed the 2009 comedy Next Day Air, but he is mostly known for his work directing music videos. The cast includes Demetrius Shipp Jr, Danai Gurira, Kat Graham, and Jamal Woolard.
All Eyez on Me offers up enough nostalgia to satisfy the majority of 2Pac fans, but a generic script and lackluster directing limit its potential. I grew up a fan of rapper Tupac Shakur, and I still feel to this day that one of the more talented artists to blend music and acting talent died tragically on that chilly day in the Fall of 1996. It's strange because throughout my childhood certain moments resonate as vivid memories almost like I could transport myself to that very moment whenever I wanted. The death of Tupac Shakur is one of those moments, as I vividly recall 11 year-old me, living in sunny Florida at the time, sitting in our fancy R.V equipped with a television when the news broke about the shooting, and as young as I was, it truly shocked me. Tupac was larger than life, and now he was gone. The East Harlem native was taken well before his time at the young age of 25, and he had quite the future ahead of him. All Eyez on Me attempts to chronicle his life from the days when his father was a member of the Black Panther's, all the way up to his death. I personally felt like the majority of the facts checked out in terms of what I recall. I'm sure many details were left out or misconstrued, leading to outrage from people close to Tupac like actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who claims the film portrayed their relationship in a false light. Yet for reasons beyond my understanding she doesn’t actually clarify how it was different because I would love to know.
All Eyez on Me feels boring at times, jumping from one chapter to the next without much of a smooth transition. I also felt like the film lacked the "wow" moments it should have had, like the anticipation of Tupac walking out on stage, or just a genuine build-up in general so that viewers could really feel the larger than life icon he became, even if just for a short time. Very few of the bigger moments felt as big as they should have, and that’s too bad really. I'm convinced that directing played a large part in this, and I honestly would have loved to see what director John Singleton would have come up with. Singleton was initially attached to the film as the director but eventually left the project over creative differences with the studio. Apparently he disagreed with the overall portrayal of the late actor. It is worth noting that according to IMDb, Singleton is the only director to receive a blessing from Tupac's late mother to tell her son's story. Singleton was quoted as saying he hopes to someday direct his own Tupac Shakur film, on his own terms. Singleton is an accomplished director, best known for hits like Boyz in the Hood, Poetic Justice (also starring Tupac Shakur), Higher Learning, Shaft, Baby Boy, and Four Brothers (one of my personal favorites). Interesting fact, Tupac was dropped from his role in Higher Learning prior to filming because of legal troubles, which is covered in All Eyez on Me. The more I think about it the more I realize how much better this film could have been under Singleton's direction- damn you studio big wigs and your micromanaging of the individuals ten times more talented than you will ever be! Damn you, damn you, damn you.
The cast for All Eyez on Me was pretty well put together all things considered. Demetrius Shipp Jr. is a spitting image of Tupac Shakur and I definitely felt like it was Tupac himself on screen throughout the film. Shipp seemed to take his role very seriously, and I felt that he delivered an impactful performance, especially considering this was his first ever role. According to a 2017 cover story in Vibe magazine, written by Kevin Powell, Shipp was originally casted for the role way back in 2011, but the project was delayed numerous times. Shipp, a father of 3, was struggling financially working a few different jobs at places like Lowe's and Target, while on the verge of eviction from his apartment prior to finally getting the call that they were ready to begin work on the film. His father was a member of the Crips street gang that was originally founded in Los Angeles, CA, and he was also a music producer that worked with Tupac back in the day. During the interview with Vibe, Shipp talks about how ever since high school people told him he looked just like the late rapper, and after a close friend insisted he take part in an open audition for All Eyez on Me, he decided to give it a shot. This role will certainly change his life regardless of whether his acting career flourishes or not, but if he works hard I could see him progressing towards a solid career if given the right roles. After learning more about his life and where he came from, it was fitting that he was the man to portray Tupac. The supporting cast was pretty good, most notably the return of Jamal Woolard as Biggie Smalls, the man who portrayed the rapper in the 2009 biopic Notorious (definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it already). I also really enjoyed Dominic L. Santana as a spitting image of Suge Knight, the large and very unstable former CEO of Death Row Records.
As I mentioned before, I consider myself to have been a pretty big fan of Tupac throughout my formative years, and I continue to appreciate his music, so all things considered I enjoyed All Eyez on Me. I do feel that with a superior director this could have been a much better film, perhaps even close to the level of Straight Out of Compton, which is certainly a high bar, but they also had the tools at their disposal. One of the biggest advantages Straight Out of Compton had was proven acting talent and more resources, including the strong influence of rapper turned actor Ice Cube. I was anticipating the release for a while so I went to see All Eyez on Me the day after it came out, and decided to take some time to process my thoughts before writing a review, which has allowed me to appreciate the film more than I did upon leaving the theater. At the end of the day it was awesome to in some way relive what life was like before Tupac's death, and I really feel that any fan of the late rapper should see All Eyez on Me, and reserve judgment until they've experienced it for themselves.
