Straight Outta Compton was released in 2015 and it's a biographical drama film directed by F. Gary Gray about the rap group N.W.A, which consisted of Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren and DJ Yella. Set in Compton, California the story starts in 1986 and shows how the group was orginally formed, from how they met to the first song they recorded together. We're shown their rise to fame in the face of adversity from racism and police brutality to their eventual disbandment and individual endevours afterwards. I'm a hardcore Hip-Hop fan and I absolutely loved Straight Outta Compton, it's the Hip-Hop film of a lifetime!
The biggest problem with Straight Outta Compton is that it's a story with too much ground to cover in one film, it's two and a half hours long and it still felt crowded! They cover the lead up to the formation of the group, the formation itself, their rise to fame, the break up of the group, Eazy-E's tragic death, Ice Cube's solo career as a rapper, his issues with the label he was on and his transition into acting and Dr. Dre joining Deathrow Records, meeting Snoop Dogg, 2Pac and Suge Knight, the Hip-Hop boogie man! It's pretty much impossible to capture all of that effectively in one film, it would have probably worked better as a TV series.
Despite feeling a little crowded I still love this film, it's entertaining from start to finish, I was gripped by the story, emotionally invested in the characters and I absolutely loved the soundtrack! I also love the film for the fact that it inspired Dr. Dre to finally release a third album in the form of Compton which, in my opinion, is a masterpiece! It's well written, well directed with great cinematography and excellent performances from the whole cast. This is my second time watching it and I can see throwing it on again sometime down the line as well, my opinion may be skewed due to my interest in the subject matter but I fucking loved it!
Corey Hawkins was excellent as Dr. Dre, I believed him in the role and he definitely had the voice for it! O'Shea Jackson Jr. was perfect as Ice Cube, being the son of a character you're playing must have been strange though, either way it works! Jason Mitchell delivers the best performance in my opinion, his portrayal of Eazy-E was extremely emotionally impactful and I think it's because he's the only member who wasn't around to oversee it, there's definitely a sense of seeing everyone's best side given that they were all heavily involved in the film but with him we're probably getting something closer to the truth.
Dr. Dre and Ice Cube in particular are portrayed very favourably whereas there's clearly vulnerablity with Eazy-E, he makes bad decisions and we see him weak and broken whereas Ice Cube and Dr. Dre seem to make no mistakes at all! I've also never really known much about MC Ren or DJ Yella, the other two members of N.W.A, and after watching Straight Outta Compton I still know very little, maybe there's not much to work with there? Paul Giamatti was great as Jerry Heller, I heard the real Jerry Heller wasn't happy with the portrayal though! I wasn't a fan of the actor they picked to play Snoop Dogg, he just didn't work!
It's not without flaws but it's an excellent film all the same and of the biographical Hip-Hop films out there it could be the best! It's better than Notorious, I hated Notorious though, it's better than Get Rich or Die Tryin' and it's about on par with 8-Mile, it's a better Hip-Hop film than 8-Mile but 8-Mile's a better film in general, that's my consensus and I'm yet to see All Eyez On Me, I've heard nothing but bad things though. I'd recommend Straight Outta Compton to everyone, hardcore film fans, casual film fans and fans of Hip-Hop especially! I'm gonna give Straight Outta Compton 8.1/10, if you haven't seen it, watch it!
What did you think of Straight Outta Compton?