"‘ALL EYEZ ON ME’" | A Legacy Damaged
Seventy-five million records sold online, four albums, 10 posthumous studio albums – all platinum, a dozen films and the first music artist to have a #1 LP while being in jail. These are all facts that can be found on the internet about Tupac Shakur aka 2Pac.
After 14 documentaries on the great Tupac, the last one being in 2009. All Eyez on Me, depicting the short life and incredible moments of the rapper/actor seemed like a no-brainer to get made.
With scenes that jumped from one part to another of his career, not showing why Tupac inspired people shows how poorly scripted and dreadfully directed the film was.
The best part about this soulless film was Demetrius Shipp Jr – the debutant who played 2Pac –having uncanny resemblance to the late rapper. However, the same cannot be said about the other characters.
Born into a world of activism and struggle on the streets of Harlem, Tupac, from the beginning saw the ugly side of racism in a country with no place for blacks. This reflected in his works. Some parts of the film mentioned that the rebel wanted to change this situation but somewhere along the line, the morals instilled in him by his activist mother gets lost. You’ll lose count of the number of times Shakur does nothing for his ‘black people’ when they’re being beaten up right in front of him. The only thing one can understand was how efficient Tupac was at dabbling a bit of Shakespeare.
The first half of the film just goes so fast, that in the blink of an eye, Shakur suddenly becomes a hit-making machine, giving back to back platinum and gold tracks.
The sexual assault case of 1993, which sent Shakur to prison was scurried. This part in the movie could have saved the damage done to the legend by showing his moral side but instead, Benny Boom was in a haste to send Shakur to prison maybe due to lack of research.
Just skimming through the Wikipedia page and making a 2 hour 17 minute film cannot do justice to the legend that Tupac was.
All Eyez on Me was a film that lacked soul, with just his career achievements and legal cases bullet pointed on screen. This sloppy marathon is a no watch for people who know the legacy of Tupac Shakur but for those who don’t know absolutely anything about him and don’t have the patience to read much, go ahead, give it a try.
