All Eyez On Me Review & Response To Critics | Old School Saturday Special

(WWETV) Since the night of September 13, 1996 the hip hop world has never been the same. Any educated fan of the genre knows that day will live forever as THE day that hip hop changed forever. The murder of Tupac Shakur changed the trajectory of an industry at the time which was just hitting its stride in getting mainstream success and acceptance as a true pop culture phenomena. There were stars who came out of the rap game, but dare I say that Tupac was indeed the first REAL Rock Star type of icon to come out of the business.

Now this is not to confuse with the term pop star which the industry already had with the likes of MC Hammer in the early 90's or legitimate crossover stars such as LL Cool J to name a few. Tupac Shakur lived the lifestyle of a Rock Star and it was accepted in American culture doing the type of hip hop that catered to the inner cities. I dare ask who else before Tupac Shakur played both sides of the fence to the wide audience as he did before him in hip hop and some may say even since.

This leads me to the worldwide release of the long awaited and long overdue biopic of one of the most compelling artists in the history of music. Let that last sentence marinate for a bit in your mind as you also have to take into account that Tupac Shakur and his mother Afeni Shakur are no longer with us to give the complete and utter truth for a biopic. Let us also take into account that there is a lot of red tape and legal issues doing a movie of this magnitude. Let us also take into account that there are different levels of getting certain elements cleared for such a biopic from Tupac's estate, Tupac's family, the record labels, friends, antagonists, media, directors, and everything in between.

There was a reason why it took so long for this biopic to hit theaters when other hip hop legends such as Biggie Smalls hit the big screens first. The great reviews and fan love for biopics with other musical icons that took decades to see the light of day (TLC, NWA, & New Edition) also increased the expectations of a Tupac Shakur biopic.

Tupac Shakur during his life did things in a big way and unlike other biopics the release date landed on none other than his birthday. First off let's get this out of the way. Any actor chosen to present Tupac Shakur regardless of how seasoned, how much he resembled, or how enigmatic he may be had huge shoes to fill. To capture Tupac on screen the actor already had competition from Shakur himself who engaged movie goers in films such as Juice with his character Bishop. Toronto rap legend Bishop Brigante explains in the video below how well executed Tupac portrayed that persona. He also speaks about what no doubt is the biggest roadblock for scriptwriters and directors for creating Tupac on screen. He was a multifaceted individual with a lot of flaws, but at the end of the day was a human spirit that touched many different people.

Now this is no excuse for not trying to put on a classic movie that tells a story, but one needs to understand when I heard about this movie being in production I feared that there was no way to pack all of Tupac's life into a 2 hour plus movie. It was a reason why TLC and New Edition got rave reviews because they got enough time to tell their story in a mini-series (which Tupac can still receive as there are still tons of story left to tell that wasn't in the movie). However, then you got the flip side of Straight Outta Compton telling a great story with limited time on how NWA changed hip hop forever with Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Ruthless Records, Deathrow Records (with Tupac himself in the film).

The fans and critics seem to be divided on their take on "All Eyez On Me" which is to be expected. Everyone has their take on how they want to see Tupac presented on screen. As Toronto artist Alicia Cinnamon pointed out below, the re-imagination of people in biopics always comes down to the vision of how someone wants their project to be seen.

I believe LT Hutton and Benny Boom wanted to prevent backlash by "sticking to the script" so to speak by trying to match the online notes everyone who loves Tupac knows about. This may have caused some critics to call the movie a "Wikipedia Biopic", but these critics are not getting the bigger picture coming from the minds of people who are trying to preserve a historic time period in the culture's history. The huge issue with doing a Tupac movie is the emotions of not only the fans of the genre, but also the media and artists. For instance the story between Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur is a movie in itself literally. The writers could have put together a screenplay involving their birth, growing up with their moms, and how they became the two leaders in a coastal beef. The King Of New York vs. MC New York is a movie title that would move eyeballs. The issue with this story is that many of the players involved are still alive and who knows what truths and false narratives would create friction in the streets again.

Benny Boom actually spoke on this on HOT 97 that a few of the people involved in the Tupac shooting at Quad Studios contacted him about the scenario when they found out he was the new director for the film "All Eyez On Me". The movie by some thought the script was not well laid out, however there is a double edged sword at play here too. Benny Boom also seems like he has a connection to "Haitian Jack" for a project they are working on together later about his life. I have to admit and agree with critics though that LT Hutton and Benny Boom did not really explain to the audience that the character was "Haitian Jack" which goes back to my last sentence. It may have been deliberate for street politics and for projects later on or it could simply be that did not want to get sued either. Remember what I said above about red tape and legal issues doing a Tupac movie? This one was glaring, but film critics wouldn't understand why things are presented as they are not knowing how Benny Boom has to work around these issues presenting this story with LT Hutton.

We may have got the absolute unadulterated truth on that Quad studio scenario or possibly one person's idea. We may never know and as I stated above Tupac Shakur not being here anymore will always cast doubt on exactly how certain situations went down for movie purposes. With that said the scene in "All Eyez On Me" was well done with New York rapper Maino as the protagonist. I won't tell the whole movie, but the film does give some insight into why Tupac was targeted for the set up at Quad Studios in New York.

Speaking of New York, the rapper 50 Cent chimed in on his review of the film. He didn't have much nice to say in the instagram post above, but he also didn't explain why he came to that conclusion either. I wonder if it has anything to do with the shooting in New York on Tupac or how other sensitive information was presented in the film or was it simply him not being impressed by the whole movie's direction (actors, writing, screenplay, layout)? This was a reason why I never made his comments taint my thought process when I had to go see the movie.

Another celebrity also chimed in on the movie, but this time it was someone who truly knew Tupac like no other. Jade Pinkett-Smith did not like the way her relationship was presented as she states there was fallacy in a scene where Tupac read her a poem. Now in retrospect, I believe the creators of this film tried to squeeze in a heartfelt poem that Tupac wrote about Jada Pinkett-Smith and probably believed the way they presented it would be best for dramatic purposes.

Tupac with Jada Pinkett-Smith

Jada had opened up about her and Tupac's relationship on The Howard Stern Show in 2015. "I think it's so funny, 'cause now, being older, I have more of an understanding of what that was between us because, you know, when you have two young people who have very strong feelings but there's no physical chemistry between us at all...there was a time where I was like, 'Just kiss me, let's just see how this goes.' And when I tell you, it had to be the most disgusting kiss for us both." "The only way I can put it just the higher power just did not want that because I feel as though if Pac and I had any kind of sexual chemistry, we might have killed each other because we were both so passionate and we love deeply," she said. "It was hard enough just with us being friends. We had a very volatile relationship." Jada said she and Tupac would have "very intense conversations" and at one point had a "very hardcore disagreement," in which she did not agree "with the direction he was taking in his life.

As I mentioned above, the poem written by Tupac was most likely the source for the whole screenplay of the two which is why they made the film depicted in that certain way. Jada more than anyone knows about dramatic license, but I understand completely why she felt she needed to clarify that scene as being just fantasy for entertainment purposes. Did Jada speak to Tupac about the coastal war and tension he was creating in the music industry with his beef with Biggie Smalls and Bad Boy Records? Interesting enough, she left that alone in her tweets. So did All Eyez On Me hit the mark on that aspect of their relationship? Only Jada can touch on that. Dominic Santana (watch his WWETV LA Exclusive Interview) who played Suge Knight went on TMZ Live to respond to Jada's twitter comment.

LT Hutton the man behind the whole machine has come out to give a response to what Jada had to say about her part in the movie. He is sticking to how he presented her and Tupac's relationship via TMZ.

While on the topic of the early days of Tupac and Jada, I will speak about the moments of the film which saw Tupac as a child growing up with parents that were involved in the Black Panther movement. I get the complaints by some that this part of the movie may have been rushed, BUT again unless the creative team wanted this to be a 3 hour epic it was bound to happen. A movie about Afeni Shakur and Mutula Shakur is another story in itself just like Biggie Smalls and Tupac could be. Then add in elements of seeing how that molded Tupac could have taken up quite a bit of time as well.

For time limit issues I believe they touched on it just enough to make people go research about his family. There is a scene in the movie between Tupac and Afeni that explores into her warning her son about his message and it also gives insight into why he created songs like "Brenda's Got A Baby". Yes, more in depth aspects of this parental connection could have been explored, but with the family split on this movie it could be another reason why this part of his life was lightly touched upon. The family is coming out with their own documentary that will be directed by Steve McQueen.

Now the biggest critic of all against this film who has the most merit is John Singleton. For those who don't know his pedigree he was friends with Tupac Shakur, but they had a falling out when Tupac who was signed to act in the movie "Higher Learning" was fired due to his legal problems. Singleton is known for creating classic movies such as "Boyz In The Hood" and "Baby Boy". He was first chosen for the Tupac biopic by Afeni Shakur, but Morgan Creek fired him because they did not agree with some of the ways he wanted the film to go. LT Hutton and Benny Boom were on radio shows in New York this past week and stated he was fired due to wanting excessive sex scenes (which even included Afeni Shakur in a threesome) and a moment where Tupac gets raped in jail. Now for the record it has never been proven that Tupac was ever raped in jail. In his words below this never happened and it seems the rumor started through Wendy Williams.

In fairness to John Singleton, he has not responded to these claims made specifically. However, he did seem to make some kind of mention that when he does stories he always puts the true story in an entertainment valued way in presentation.

From going off what LT Hutton and Benny Boom are stating I would agree that those plans if true about Singleton's version for the movie were I can't see how that would add anything substantial to telling Tupac's life. The rape scenario just can't be inserted if there is no verified proof of this. I do think LT Hutton's reasoning for not putting in those scenes are correct.

This goes right back to the start of this whole response to critics and movie reviewers. It is REALLY hard to nail a biopic of a famous artist that is beloved by many. Ray Charles with Jamie Foxx pulled it off, but here is the thing. There is no documented plethora of information on Ray Charles as there is of Tupac Shakur. Even Tupac's "Resurrection" film as great as it was may have hindered any movie down the line. It is a reason why Sylvester Stallone originally backed out of doing a movie for Tupac and Biggie Smalls. The movie is now going to star Johnny Depp. Stallone said his reason for not going ahead with the movie was that documentaries that were released were so strong that a movie depiction would fail in comparison. The cynic may also think that Stallone backed out finding out all the politics in trying to make a completely truthful movie.

With all that said, critics who claim the movie is "by the numbers" have to realize that LT Hutton was apart of DeathRow Records with Snoop and The Dogg Pound. It is quite interesting that on HOT 97, the topics seemed to be more about Snoop's reaction and how Biggie Smalls was portrayed. This lies the biggest problem in creating a movie like this. It's the entertainment business looking at itself along with conspiracy theorists, media, and conventional movie critics.

In all of this puzzle, the movie put onto the big screen historical moments that shaped hip hop as we have it today from the top to bottom. It showed us the rise and fall of a man that has become mythical to many people around the world. I will say this about "All Eyez On Me". The movie had its struggles early on before it was even on the drawing board. It starred a person who never acted before and somehow he has emerged out of all this as a credible movie star. The man playing Suge Knight in Dominic Santana has got nothing but rave reviews. One thing this movie has done which is the bigger picture is that it has once again put Tupac at the top of the rap game years after his passing and the way the movie was produced even if by some critics a a long music video of snapshots of Tupac's life, one thing is certain and that long term I believe the movie has bullet proofed itself from being seen as a total fantasy in recreating the life and times of Tupac Shakur.

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