All Eyez On Me
“All Eyez on Me’s important commentary on race gets overshadowed by its technical problems.”
Title: All Eyez on Me (2017)
Director: Benny Boom 👨🏾🇺🇸
Writers: Jeremy Haft 👨🏼🇺🇸, Eddie Gonzalez 👨🏽🇺🇸, and Steve Bagatourian 👨🏼🇺🇸
Reviewed by Jonita Davis 👩🏾🇺🇸
Technical: 2/5
The late Tupac Shakur lived a complex life, one which we see summed up in All Eyez On Me, a hurried narrative full of contradictions. Director Benny Boom sets out to do what many have tried and failed to accomplish—to reconcile Tupac’s socially conscious upbringing with an adulthood peppered with violence. Despite these disparate pieces, the film still qualifies as commentary on the struggle of Black men in America as it follows the harsh life and the untimely death of a talented artist.
All Eyez on Me ultimately offers audiences a film at odds with itself. The main character, portrayed by Demetrius Shipp Jr., performs well as a multifaceted man who defies easy definition. But when Boom attempts to streamline Tupac’s life by introducing an unnamed “interviewer” (Hill Harper) who captures Tupac’s early years, the flimsy plot device fails when it suddenly disappears in the second half of the film. This, along with moments of uneven pacing and the misogynistic depictions of women, make the film more tedious than entertaining.
The score and soundtrack almost save the film, effectively capturing the ‘90s hip hop era. But even that cannot salvage the film, as the actors playing Snoop, Dr. Dre, Warren G, and others do not resemble the men at all—in likeness or behavior—making it that much harder to get into. All Eyez on Me’s third act feels like a different film altogether, and only presents a disjointed journey of an icon.
Gender: 2.5/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? NOPE
The venerable Afeni Shakur (Danai Gurira) dominates that first act of the film. A powerful activist, she demands and receives room to show such power, especially in the first two scenes of the film. Unfortunately, she never shares the screen with another woman. The men in the film take over the space around her as she speaks eloquently about the plight of Black men while raising one herself.
The other women in the film exist almost exclusively as sexualized tropes. By the time the music video vixens show up, Afeni and her bold imprint are completely gone.
Race: 5/5
From the opening scenes when Afeni stands poised in front of an angry crowd protesting the prison industrial complex, to the end when police draw their weapons on Tupac’s lifeless body, All Eyez on Me crafts a very sharp message about racial injustice.
That lens turns inward when All Eyez On Me explores the time Black politicians joined their white colleagues in attempting to ban rap music. Tupac served as their poster child for all that was wrong in the genre, claiming that his music peddled lewd imagery and violent messages to children and teens while glorifying gang violence. As Black politicians on screen parrot the lies of white supremacy, Boom fosters the perfect example of systemic racism—one where even Black people can be perpetrators of anti-Blackness.
The film’s ability to share such affecting moments is tremendous and worth noting. By interrogating difficult topics, Boom draws parallels with the past and today and makes the statement that things have not changed enough since Tupac’s passing.
Mediaversity Grade: C 3.17/5
All Eyez on Me attempts to reconcile an iconic figure with his very complex life. Its important commentary on race, however, gets overshadowed by technical problems like the way writers tries to duct tape a narrative together through the device of an interviewer. The pacing never finds a rhythm and feels rushed, glossing over parts of Tupac’s childhood and missing potentially powerful moments with his mother.
However, in powering through the film’s issues, we find a powerful argument on how embedded racism is in our society. Although Boom’s directorial choices create more confusion than entertainment at times, All Eyez On Me’s message begs a longer, deeper look.