It’s rather difficult to review or critique a biopic, mainly because the main target is the story, which in this case, simply cannot be critiqued, as it is implicitly factual. However, I’m still gonna take a stab at All Eyez on Me anyway.

All Eyez on Me walks us, as an audience, through the life of the infamous Tupac Shakur, from his childhood through to the day of his death. Again, it’s nigh impossible to critique the story we’re being told, aside from discussing elements that could have been included versus elements that could have been left in the dark. Ultimately, it’s about what the people telling the story, whether that is the director, the subject or their family, want to expose or use to improve the subject’s image. While the film doesn’t glorify his darker moments, Benny Boom uses Tupac’s childhood and the politics of the time to give context to them, something that we would not have had access to at the time.

The film is well-framed by the recurring use of Shakespeare to remind us that Tupac was never uneducated, framing his more charismatic moments and his lyrics in a more sympathetic light, likening him to a poet of the streets, as opposed to the destructive reveler he was made out to be. This is furthered by his relationship with his family, particularly his mother, who plays a significant role in making him a more sympathetic human.

The film is well structured, using interviews to bring context and a fresh perspective to some of the more notorious moments in his life, then shifts into following him for the last days of his short life. However, it falls short on two aspects, in my opinion; pacing and transitions.

The film’s pacing is a behemoth of an issue. Clocking in at 2 hours 20 minutes, I couldn’t help but feel acutely aware of the stretching of time. Even with a biopic, my attention should be so focused on the subject matter that I shouldn’t notice the time pass. However, I believe that is because the focus was on the more politically charged, radical moments in his life, which are time-hogs by their very nature.

As for the transitions, there is no real break in the transitions beyond the first third of the film. There is no flow, no chance to catch one’s breath. We’re thrown from one scene into the next, with action immediately requesting our undivided attention, giving us no chance to digest what we’ve just played witness to. This is another commanding issue, but it is one that cannot be forgiven, as it doesn’t give us, as viewers, a chance to reconcile the subject matter.

All Eyez on Me isn’t a bad film, by any means, but it isn’t quite spectacular either. That said, if you are interested in a fresh perspective on the life and death of Tupac, I recommend checking it out. If you want to watch it because you enjoy the genre of biopics, I’d probably direct you elsewhere.

Editing: 2/5

Structure: 4/5

Rewatchability: 3/5

Pacing: 2/5

Overall: 2.75/5