Thursday, July 27, 2017

Dunkirk Review

Every historical drama or true story being turned into a motion picture requires a filmmaker with maturity and a true command of his craft to bring the real life story to life in the best possible way that'll not only do the story justice, but give the audience the emotional experience that they will end up feeling after the story ends. With Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan gives audiences that experience while further proving that he is a rate filmmaker that has a firm grip on his craft and is only getting warmed up.
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SPOILER FREE

      Before Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan was making his rounds through Hollywood emerging from being an independent filmmaker with his breakthrough hit Memento to becoming one of the most prominent blockbuster filmmakers in the business with the critically acclaimed The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, and Interstellar. Whereas Memento was the true starting point for Nolan's filmmaking career along with Insomnia, it was The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception that cemented his status as being one of the top filmmakers in the industry. With his films, Nolan is a filmmaker that presents himself as being one that demonstrates a clear passion for storytelling while advancing the technological aspects of filmmaking such as properly utilizing the IMAX format, never shooting in 3D, and going 70MM for Dunkirk to fully capture the size, scope, and spectacle of the story and the action that surrounds it. Being Nolan's first historical War drama, the anticipation for Dunkirk is high as well as the hope that Nolan can deliver a film that not only hits the audience hard emotionally, but can earn recognition from the Oscars come award time. Dunkirk centers around allied soldiers in Belgium being evacuated during a fierce battle in World War ll with the British Empire and France being surrounded by the German Army. With a story that's one of the most pivotal moments of World War ll, the film has an emotional core to it that's established and only needs Nolan to flesh it out for audiences. Here he does just that by establishing several key characters throughout the battle and evacuation that the audience stays focused on and ultimately connected with. While these characters aren't exactly rich in their development, Nolan gives just enough information on who's who so the audience can experience the urgency and intensity of the situation without any unnecessary exposition. With Nolan's expertise in directing along with the films breathtaking cinematography, the audience is put right there at the center of the beaches when the battle and evacuation becomes reality. The films technical aspects such as it's sound effects and brilliant score from Hans Zimmer brings the films intensity home, especially if one watches it in the much preferred IMAX format. The cast all give believable performances with the younger soldiers feeling realistic as the actual ones were young and inexperienced during the actual battle. Fionn Whitehead does an impressive job of playing the main character, conveying the fear his character feels during the battle as well as the desperation and hope for survival in the film. Harry Styles surprises with his strong supporting role as he goes against type exceeding the expectations placed upon him, with Jack Lowden doing a fine job as well. The inclusion of Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, and Cillian Murphy with the supporting cast works effectively as each men deliver strong and likeable performances, while demonstrating their obvious enthusiasm to work with Christopher Nolan again. With the films running time being only 106 minutes, this is Nolan's shortest movie since The Following but every minute is used to advance the story with the movie having a brisk pace. At first my concern going into this film was it's running time feeling a bit shortchanged given that Nolan typically makes films within the 2 to 2.5 hour range, but Dunkirk's running time feels just right for it's story, even though more material would've been greatly welcomed. In terms of the action, it hits audiences like a wave as it rises then calms before doing so again. On a visual scale, this movie leaves a huge impact on the audience as it works more as a visual language rather than being dialogue driven. The moments of emotion that arise are done so in a way that it gives the sense of victory that the Battle of Dunkirk ultimately proved to be, even inspiring Winston Churchill's famous beaches speech. One could not imagine a better filmmaker that could've given this story a more heartfelt and passionate tribute other than Christopher Nolan. Nolan has become one of the rare filmmakers in the world, that has such a critical and financial backing behind him, that he can tell essentially any story he wants and get the full backing of the studio. The film fits under the category of being a War drama, but it fits more under the category of being a survival story about young soldiers who simply want to go home.

      If audiences are looking for a thrill ride that has an inspirational and powerful story about survival behind it then Dunkirk is the film worth checking it. If audiences are looking for extreme violence and gore given that it's a War film, then they should rent Saving Private Ryan or look elsewhere as this film is all about the story with the visuals being used as a tool to heighten the experience. This is the movie Nolan wanted to tell and he does so with passion even if it doesn't top his previous best work in his career. Dunkirk is a prime example that movies can be used for much more than just entertainment, but to remind and inform the audience about the past as well as tell true and inspirational stories about hope. The movie also shows how images can have a deep impact on the audience and help with conveying the emotions of the story to the audience. Nolan essentially takes the War genre and puts his on spin on it, ditching the gore factor that's become standard with War films and gives it brains and strong storytelling. Dunkirk is one of the summers strongest and more thought-provoking films as it's an emotionally charged experience that's both thrilling and shows when the chips are down, there is hope to winning Wars and going home. A story like Dunkirk needed a Captain to properly sail the vessel and give it it's full potential, with Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk found its storyteller who delivers a powerful film and what hopes to be the first of many Oscar nominations for the acclaimed filmmaker.
                                                                                                                                       9 out of 10

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War For The Planet Of The Apes Review

All great trilogies must come to an end, and the rebooted Planet Of The Apes series is no different with the release of this summers War For The Planet Of The Apes.

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SPOILER FREE

       Before going into my review of War For The Planet Of The Apes, let me first give a brief recap on my thoughts on the earlier installments in the series. Like many fans, I enjoyed the Charlton Heston original classic and watched all of it's numerous sequels on VHS while growing up. I enjoyed Tim Burton's remake although I found it to be weird and awkward. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes was a breath of fresh air for the Planet Of The Apes universe and was a step in the right direction that would lead to bigger and better things. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes was bigger, darker, and more intense than Rise as it felt like the Empire Strikes Back of the trilogy. With War For The Planet Of The Apes, the trilogy comes full circle while ending it's story arc with a strong emotional chord that makes it the Return Of The King/Return Of The Jedi of the newly rebooted franchise. Three years after the events of the second movie, the story picks up where it left off with Ceasar killing Koba after he initiated a War between the humans and the apes. The humans and apes attempts to coexist proved to be useless thanks to Kobas actions and now the lead ape Ceasar played brilliantly by Andy Serkis, further pushing the envelope with stop motion while opening the debate of whether his style of action can qualify for an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, fights to protect his species from a ruthless and corrupt criminal played brilliantly by Woody Harrelson. War For The Planet Of The Apes essentially feels like like a mixture of the Planet Of The Apes universe combined with Schindler's List and 12 Years A Slave as the film contains a much deeper emotional core than the previous two films along with a powerful message regarding the will to survive and how humanity committing genocide against a sentinet species will not allow the opposite species to survive. The film tackles the conflict of whether it's morally right to imprison and kill off a species that has the ability to communicate with each other and feels emotion. Out of the three Planet Of The Apes films, War is the most powerful as it's main themes regarding prejudice, genocide, survival, and anarchy are beautifully explored and conveyed with such drive and passion behind the story. Woody Harrelsons character feels like Ralph Fiennes from Schindler's List as he expresses no other emotion than intense dislike for the apes. War For The Planet Of The Apes presents a story that's both poignant and powerful with a narrative that has direct parallels to earlier parts of human history where humans mistreated, enslaved, and killed off other humans for their own survival and superiority complex. War takes the series to newer heights while ending it's story on a grand and blockbuster note that compliments all the themes that were well established in the previous film's. Whereas most blockbusters that come out entertain but don't allow the audience to think about its concepts or scenario after the credits roll, War is the rare summer blockbuster that's both genuine and commanding with it's style, presentation, and ultimate message about the wrongs of genocide.

        In the end War For The Planet Of The Apes succeeds where most third movies in trilogies fail in which it not only manages to top the first two installments, but provides a stunning and epic conclusion to a worthy trilogy. The film deserves Oscar nomination for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and a Best Actor nomination for Andy Serkis, however because of it's genre and Serkis performance being stop motion effects, the likelihood of any nominations in those major categories is very slim with the odds being it'll secure techmical nominations for sound, visual effects, and the Cinematography which is breathtaking. The snowy atmosphere of the film truly gives the story a Schindler's List type feel as well as emphasizing the mood of the film being a depressing yet emotionally powerful experience. The visual and stop motion effects are at its finest here, and it's amazing to see how much of a progression the character of Ceasar has started since the first movie until now. The moments in the film where Ceasar has visions of Koba and begins to follow a similar behavioral pattern to his old nemesis is deeply compelling as Ceasar is torn between doing the right thing for his people yet feels the rage Koba felt towards humans for how they treated the apes. As far as movie trilogies go, War For The Planet Of The Apes will go down as being one of the best of all time as it set out to successfully reestablish the popular franchise while bringing it's story into modern times while building on it with provocative themes that add weight to it as a summer blockbuster. With the Apes trilogy, director Matt Reeves can be proud of the fact that he not only created a consistent and memorable set of blockbuster movies that makes a great trilogy, but also that it beautifully mirrors human nature with it's themes and character arcs. Rarely has both Andy Serkis and Woody Harrelsen been better than how both are presented here. War For The Planet Of The Apes is a magnificent conclusion to the newer Ape trilogy that will not only please those who are fans of the first two movies, but will make them reflect on the ending of this movie after it's over while feeling the emotion of the climax. For that reason, Reeves and the cast and crew behind War For The Planet Of The Apes deserve a bow.
                                                                                                                                          9 out of 10

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Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Spiderman Homecoming Review

The hot streak of 2017 in regards to delivering stellar comic book movies with Logan and Wonder Woman continues with Marvel's classy and highly effective reintroduction of the popular web slinger titled Spiderman Homecoming

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SPOILER FREE

Before going into my thoughts on Homecoming, let me first reflect on the past big screen Spiderman efforts that came and went. Before seeing this movie, I considered the 2002 Sam Raimi film with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst to be the definitive take on the classic web slinger I grew up loving the Fox cartoon of. Raimi's trilogy not only felt like the superior Spiderman films made in comparison to the Amazing Spiderman ones, but they also had something the Amazing Spiderman films were severely lacking in and that's heart. Spiderman 2 remains one of the definitive Superhero movies ever made as it tackles Peter's struggle to balance out his two lives both as Peter Parker and the other as Spiderman. While Spiderman 3 is unquestionably the worst film out of the Raimi series, ending the trilogy with a whimper in many fans eyes, it still works as a somewhat satisfying closure to that trilogy as it completes the Peter Parker and Mary Jane arc. While I did not dislike Marc Webb's darker and more cynical interpretation of the character with his Amazing Spiderman movies, I found them to be reasonably entertaining, but lacking essential things that made Sam Raimis Spiderman films so special with audiences such as them having heart and feeling like they're having fun with the material. Whereas I felt Tobey Maguire was the superior Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield was the better Spiderman. If one takes the two sides and mesh them together, they would have the ideal Peter Parker/Spiderman. When I heard the news that Tom Holland was going to play Spiderman, I wasn't sure what to make of him as I felt there was too many rebooted attempts with the character along with him feeling a bit young for the part despite Peter being of High School age in the comics. That all changed once I saw his brief role in Civil War, which was not only hilarious but spot on with the teenage aspect of Parker's character as well as being refreshing. Having seen what he could do with the character in Civil War, I had more faith in Spiderman Homecoming going into it. Now that I've seen the movie and a few weeks have gone by where I can look back and reflect on it's ups and downs, I can say with both proudness and satisfaction that the ups more than greatly outweigh the downs.

       Spiderman Homecoming is easily the best Spiderman movie since Sam Raimi's 2002 original classic and is the true reboot the series needed since 2007. Everything feels fresh and new with this film as opportunities to further explain Parker's teenage years is opened along with the potential of covering new ground with villains not yet explored in the Spiderman cinematic universe. What makes Homecoming such an exciting and worthy addition to the Spiderman franchise is how it brings back the fun spirit of the character and the energy that Raimi's films possessed, particularly his first two installments. Tom Holland proves to be a terrific successor to Tobey Maguire both as Peter Parker and Spiderman, looking more like a natural High School student compared to Andrew Garfield, who always felt too old for the part. Michael Keaton proves once again that if you cast him in the role of being a villain, he shines in a way that's more surprising to audiences than if he plays a regular good guy. Keaton is great here and gives Vulture an interesting character complex that come switch a shocking yet clever twist involving his character in the middle portion of the story. One of his best acting moments in the movie involve a scene in a car between him and Peter Parker, a fantastic moment that brings out the intensity as well as the brilliance of Keaton's performance. Marisa Tomei does a fine job playing a younger Aunt May than what audiences are originally accustomed to in previous interpretation but her performance remains effective. As far as the supporting cast goes, Jon Favreau shines as Stark's right hand man Happy Hogan as he carries some of the films more humerous moments. Zendaya steals the show as Peter's awkward friend Michelle, and Jacob Batalon as Parker's friend Ned, and Laura Harrier as Peter's love interest Liz. What makes this supporting cast effective is how much they make you care about their characters as well as engaging you in Peter's journey to learn how to be Spiderman without relying on the suit. The supporting cast brings humor and tons of energy to the film with Liz's romance reminding audiences of the romance between Peter Parker and Mary Jane in Sam Raimi's film. On a technical aspect, the special effects are visually impressive along with an effective musical score that's good but not as strong as Danny Elfmans iconic 2002 Spiderman theme. While the overall story structure of the film may feel all too familiar as audiences have already been exposed to two prior origin stories, Homecoming contains a High School saga that audiences become attached to and want to see play out with later films. It also jumps straight into the action by ditching the traditional origin story of Peter Parker becoming Spiderman and covers an arc of s young High School kid trying to juggle two lives with one being a regular High School student with teenage priorities such as falling in love, and the other being a superhero whose trying to realize his worth without needing the suit. One of the most effective scenes in the film that essentially sums up the entire film is when Tony Stark tells Peter Parker that if he really needs the suit in order to be Spiderman then he shouldn't have it. Coming after one of the films biggest set pieces, that line carries the weight of the film on it's shoulders as it presents the heroes struggle to become his own man while desiring to please Tony Stark in hopes of becoming apart of the Avengers team.

         Spiderman Homecoming is a fun and highly entertaining film that's worthy of bearing the Spiderman name, even if the film feels a bit grounded at times within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite the movie making the most of it's limitations within the grand scheme of things, it sometimes relies too much on the Marvel Universe to appease to the fans. Examples are moments where Captain America makes appearances throughout the film in hilarious training videos for Parker's High School. While those moments were hands down hilarious, they felt a bit excessive at times and only really served to remind people of the universe Homecoming is tied down with. Tony Stark's presence in the film is effective and adds to the mentor aspect of the film, despite some of his scenes feeling unnecessary at times and detracting from the overall focus of Parker's arc. It's not the key scenes such as Stark lecturing Parker about the suit that's the problem, it's the smaller moments in between with Stark that are unnecessary (As well as special cameos from those close to Stark). Another issue with the film that I had despite it being very strong is the advanced Spiderman suit that Peter wears throughout the film, even allowing it to talk to him. In hindsight that looks cool on film but as far as it goes with the overall story, it makes the audience question if Peter has any powers at all or is it the suit that allows him to be Spiderman. As far as Homecoming goes, it's perhaps the best Spiderman film since the 2002 movie but if one had to choose between the two films to decide which is the better Spiderman movie, I'd have to go with Sam Raimi's film. My reasons being that Spiderman has a stronger musical score than Homecomings although I did appreciate the Spiderman theme they introduced at the opening of Homecoming, a superior villain although Keaton is awesome he still pales in comparison to William Dafoe as the Green Goblin, the love story between Peter Parker and Mary Jane is more memorable and iconic compared to the relationship between Peter and Liz. However the twist involving Liz's family dynamic later on in the story makes their romance intriguing and the nods to Raimi's earlier film such as the upside down kiss homage during the elevator scene is a nice touch. Despite some of Homecomings issues, the film does an exceptional job of rebooting the character and story for the Marvel universe while managing to be surprising and providing it's own surprise twists for audiences. Whereas one didn't really feel much excitement at the end of Amazing Spiderman, one can't help but be excited and looking forward towards Spidermans future in the Marvel universe with the end of Homecoming and it's big end credits sequence which indicates the plan to assemble the sinister six for the future sequels. The main reason the Spiderman from 2002 is a better film than Homecoming is because it doesn't feel tied down to a universe nor confined to the other movies plots, and is free to be its own origin story with heart, the latter Homecoming more than retains as well as it's energy making it feel a bit refreshing for audiences. Even though the film doesn't surpass the original comic book classic, Spiderman Homecoming is a welcome addition to the Marvel universe, and proves to be the reboot the Spiderman franchise needed.
                                                                                                                    9 out of 10

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Monday, July 10, 2017

Transformers: The Last Knight Review

So I regrettably got to watch the newest installment and the atrocious Transformers franchise titled Transformers: The Last Knight

SPOILER FREE

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      Let me start by saying that prior to watching this film I was previously a fan of the Transformers franchise but that was mainly because of my enjoyment of the first movie. The first Transformers surprised everyone with being action-packed, but also having moments of heart that were guided by Steven Spielberg producing the movie with Michael Bay giving the film his trademark directorial style which meant endless explosions and tons of moments of witty comedy with the plot making little to no sense. It just happened to all blend together nicely with the first Transformers movie because while the sequels got progressively worse in the story department, the first Transformers kept things consistent and gave audiences as well as fans of the classic cartoon show what they wanted. Revenge Of The Fallen is when things began to fall apart for the franchise as the sequel was not only poor in it's scriptwriting but everything became excessive and over the top (Those controversial twin robots didn't help things either as they received the largest movie character backlash since Jar Jar Binks). Dark Of The Moon made an attempt to amend the problems of Revenge Of The Fallen with an improved script but gone was Megan Fox as Shia Labeoufs love interest as she was replaced by a model that audiences have already forgotten about. One of the things that made the first Transformers movie quite spontaneous and magical at times was not just the impressive technology the film presented but also getting to know Sam Witwhicky played by Shia Labeouf and watching him try to win over Megan Fox's character. When the arc of Shia Transformers films ended with Dark Of The Moon, that's when the series really began to take a turn for the worse as Age Of Extinction was not only the worst Transformers film since Revenge Of The Fallen but it genuinely felt like Michael Bay didn't care about coherent storytelling anymore and jumped into hyperdrive in the action and special effects department without any type of regard for anything else. As awful as Age Of Extinction turned out to be, it was at least watchable for laughs but what comes after it is not even pleasantly watchable in a so bad it's good way, it's just really bad. Transformers: The Last Knight is not only the worst movie of the franchise ala Die Hard 5, it's perhaps the worst and most toxic film to be released this year thus far with no amount of explosions or action that is able to save it.

       Transformers: The Last Knight is a product of the greed and recklessness of it's director, whose ditched fundamental storytelling in exchange for one major action set piece after another. There is no argument that the films special effects are once again very impressive on a technological scale (That seems to be the only thing Bay advances at in this franchise), it's everything else in the food that falls apart with a story and script that's so convulted and messy for audiences to understand. While they may enjoy the occasional explosion that comes every 10 to 15 mins there's hardly any story to latch onto. The plot for The Last Knight centers around the Autobots and Decepticons raging war with humans on the sidelines. With Optimus Prime gone, the key to mankind's future lies within the ancient secrets of the history of the Transformers that lies on Earth. One would think that the combination of mid evil times meshing with modern day Transformers would seem like the genuine pick me up the franchise needed but unfortunately it wasn't. The model aspect of the story is poorly handled and not given much time to be properly explored in the story. As far as acting performances go, Mark Whalberg brings nothing special to the table and is clearly here for a paycheck. Anthony Hopkins is the only saving grace of the film as he takes the material hes given and makes the absolute best of it. His casting is one of the few things done right with this film. Laura Haddock does her absolute best impersonation of Megan Fox look wise as she appears to be casted based on her physical appearance being similar despite her character being completely different. She's there to look hot more so then add anything pivotal to the storyline other than a potential love interest for Mark Whalberg character. The film desperately tries to tie itself with the Shia Labeouf Transformers films with important side characters making return appears such as John Turturos character and Josh Duhamel reprising their respective roles to help connect the new films with the past. While it's nice to see familiar character make return appearances, it does very little to change the overall mood and tone of the film ( Anyone else wonder where Tyrese's character was at in the film since he was so closely associated with Duhamel's in the first three movies). What made the first Transformers film so likeable and appealing to fans as well as audiences, was how it came off as being cool while never trying to take itself too seriously. The movie was clearly aimed at it's teenage audience, who still flock to see these movies regardless of how diminishing their quality becomes with each installment. What the first movie had first and foremost that the sequels lack is heart. You actually cared about the robots as well as Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox's character. Perhaps Spielberg was holding Bays hand while making the first movie because after the first film, that heart and becoming emotionally involved with the story faded. Who didn't feel emotion when BumbleBee was captured by the authorities in the first movie and wanted to jump through the screen and help Labeouf rescue him? With The Last Knight, the audience could care less about the characters or what's happening in the story because as much as Bay and the writers want to pass off the story as being something of actual value, it feels paper thin and lacking any kind of heart and soul. The problem that Bays Transformers films have outside of the first film is them all feeling stretched out plot wise with characters that are bland, and a plot that is so messy and contrived it confuses and irritates the viewer rather than drawing them in. The Last Knight is pretty much Bayhem at his most extreme and careless as he places the state of the art technology first and foremost over everything else. The Last Knight is exactly the type of film you'd expect it to be as both a Michael Bay film and a fifth installment of the Transformers franchise that began strong but now has morphed into nothing short of CGI porn.

        As much as I criticize Michael Bay with my review of The Last Knight, I do not think he's complete disaster of a filmmaker. When it comes to creating visual styles and world's, Bay is one of the best working in the business today as he can give audiences pure spectacle on the big screen even if it's derived of any kind of storytelling. The film plays out like one endless trailer rather than actually feeling like a movie which the first one was. It isn't that Bay is not capable of making good movies (Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, The Island, and Transformers were strong films), it's that he doesn't seem to value storytelling over style and chooses the latter knowing that audiences don't come for the stories but rather the explosive action and groundbreaking technology he presents on the big screen. The man is essentially James Cameron in regards to advancing technology with each Transformer film he does excepts lacks the brains and intelligence that come with Cameron's scripts to balance out the visual effects. As an overall film, The Last Knight is a huge disappointment for fans of the franchise and just comes off as being a bad movie altogether. There was a time when even the worst Transformers movies came out, you still felt a tiny ounce of interest in watching them because you know exactly what you're getting from them being their directed by Michael Bay. With The Last Knight, the movie is just long, torturous, frustrating, and lacking all the basic fundamentals of storytelling to make it a good movie. This is not only one of the worst movies of the year thus far but may be Michael Bays worst film as one thought he couldn't get any worse than either Revenge Of The Fallen or Age Of Extinction. We were wrong. Fans of both the franchise and the old cartoon deserve much better than what's being dishes at them. This is not a movie that feels like it has the love for the fan base driving, it feels more like a slap in the face to them with Bay showing his disregard for doing the source material justice nor respecting it. Avoid like a nasty plague and pretend the series ended with previous highs, which for me was the end of the first movie. The only promising thing that comes at the end of watching this installment is the movie apparently doing so poorly with audiences at the box office that it just might prevent Michael Bay from directing another one. For that, we can only hope.                                                                                                                          
                                                     2 out of 10

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All Eyez On Me Review

So I finally got to see the mildly entertaining yet highly disappointing Tupac biography titled All Eyez On Me

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      Before going into this movie, I wasn't a die hard fan of Tupac Shakur, but I enjoyed much of his music as well as the majority of the films he acted in prior to this death. Upon hearing about a biography on the complexed singer being made, I held optimism that it would be entertaining and do the main figure justice. The 2009 Notorious movie was decent but not a great film, it entertained and did what it was supposed to, but lacked the extra punch and dedication to make it a great biography. With All Eyez On Me, the expectations were high for the filmmakers to deliver not just a fitting biography, but one that is also thought-provoking and reflects on the kind of person Tupac was and the legacy he left behind. The trailer for the film was promising with the main actor spawning an uncanny look much like the actual real life figure, giving the audience the feeling that something special is in the making as the filmmakers clearly aspire to have the same type of box office and critical success like 2015's Straight Outta Compton achieved. One went into this movie with great skepticism after hearing all of the bad reviews it received with comments ranging from being inaccurate to feeling meshed together with no heart. Having seen All Eyez On Me, I can safely say that the film is completely deserving of all the negative reviews it's received.

        Despite the film being mildly entertaining, the movie is a huge disappointment for fans of the late singer who wanted a biography that gave a more complexed view of Shakur. All Eyez On Me is a biography that looks good on the outside but on the inside, it lacks the ambition, the heart, the courage, and determination to tell what should've been a more gripping story. This biography is not only by-the-numbers, but it rushes through it's timeline and main events of the rapper/actors life to the point where the editing feels choppy and borderline messy. It isn't the fault of the main actor as Demetrius Shipp Jr. turns in a likeable performance as Tupac Shakur, but the material and environment he's surrounded by feels completely uninspired and lacks true vision. The film feels like it was made with the purpose of making a financial profit rather than adding to Shakur's legacy. The films shallow surface fails to allow Shipp to capture the complexed personality of Shakur nor portray the true depths of his talent. The film forcibly races through the rappers major life events like reading through his biography on Wikipedia, that the film never bothers to take moments to try and explore the personal side of Shakur nor ask questions about him. That easily becomes the biggest tragedy of the film as the movie runs with a running time of almost two and a half hours but it never truly gets to know the man that inspired the biography. If anything, the movie does more harm to Shakur's legacy than preserve it by not capturing his charisma and complexity both as a musician and actor. Subplots such as the one involving him confronting his mother whose revealed to be doing drugs is briefly touched upon then dropped as the movie jumps from one timeline to the next without hesitation. Shakur's character never truly feels like he has an arc in the story or something the filmmakers can build up to outside of the obvious climax that everyone whose familiar with his name knows comes at the end. The moments where the filmmakers show glimpses of Tupac's career both as an actor and a rapper will provoke nostalgia for those who grew up witnessing his rise to stardom in the 90's, but that also feels like desperation on the filmmakers part to appease his fans by saying "here, we showed you this part of Shakur's life. Happy? Might as well be, now lets move on." The films main crime in regards to entertaining it's audience is it lacks a true sense of sincerity with the overall project as the film doesn't care so much to really get into the head of it's main figure but rather to cash in on the nostalgia effect of his songs and key life events without regard for anything else. That in retrospect is a shame because such a controversial character like Tupac Shakur deserves a film as well as a filmmaker that not only gives the audience doses of their earlier memories of Shakur but to also give and answer questions that people may have in regard to his life outside the public eye.

      All Eyez On Me is not a terrible film but it's far from being the film that it could've been. On a technical aspect, the film was well shot and feels like it's structured to be very similar to Straight Outta Compton in hopes of being a similar type of critical and box office smash. If that was the filmmakers intention to duplicate the same type of response with this movie, then they failed as the movie not only was critically panned by major newspapers and critics but it dropped a nasty 78 percent in it's second weekend at the US box office after a strong 27 million opening. One could only imagine what this films legs at the box office would've been like had someone along the lines of John Singleton directed it with a much stronger script for Demetrius Shipp Jr. to really dig deep into. All Eyez On Me is one of the greatest movie tragedies of 2017 not because of what it ended up being as a movie, but what it could've been had the movie been given greater care by its filmmakers and actually had a heart. The film lacks a soul and never once tries to be bold or brave with it's presentation. For fans of Tupac Shakur or those who wish to know more about the legendary rappers life, they should skip this film and watch a surprisingly good documentary titled Tupac Resurrection. That film is more satisfying of a biography than this movie which is sad to admit but true. As Siskel and Ebert would say, two major thumbs down.

                                                    5 out of 10

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