"All Eyez" Doesn't See Much Past the Surface

travishouze

score 3/10

There's no doubt that Tupac Shakur was a influential and controversial artist at the same time. He tapped on conversations that many weren't comfortable hearing in the mainstream, but was trying to bring to light topics that needed a light shined to break to those trying to find guidance. All Eyez on Me tries to juggle both the truthful and hedonistic side of Tupac and leads with really problematic results.

Demetrius Shipp Jr., while many questioned his portrayal as the lead, does fine with the material given, and made me realize is the issue isn't Demetrius. Where the film fails is mostly due to Benny Boom's direction where the films editing crams in the first hour where Tupac came from, when he was younger cut in between talking in jail and the scenes are so brief and have no connective tissue between moments. Tupac's creative process is almost inexistent, outside of only one moment of him writing while laying in bed naked with other women after a drunken night. The supporting cast is okay at best. They don't leave me with much to say since they were just there. But Snoop Dogg's character is so obviously ADR'd (replacing the actors dialogue with the real Snoop Dogg).

Errors in Tupac's life are more prominent than ever. Even to the point that Tupac is performing Hail Mary to a sold out crowd and the audience knows all the words, however Hail Mary came out AFTER he died.

But nothing is as frustrating as the ending scene where it shows Tupac's unfortunate death, orchestrated with Gospel music as heard bleeding in the middle of the street, only to next see some text saying "Six Days later, Tupac died in the hospital" as if nothing happened in between time. All Eyez on Me is a frustrating watch because there were glimmers of a more dimensional story that could have served a character like Tupac better. The direction is lackluster, the writing is flat and try's too hard to make him a prophet, and the editing makes it hard to enjoy the film as a whole.

As I left, I couldn't help but think "Maybe John Singleton's crazy idea of Tupac in jail would have made a better movie."

travishouze 17 June 2017

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3732962/