REVIEW – “All Eyez on Me” Blu-ray

 I typically review Blu-Rays of films that I’ve already seen in theaters, but All Eyez on Me was one of my only blind spots in this overpacked Summer, so this will be both a review of the film itself and the Blu-Ray I was sent. All Eyez on Me chronicles the life of the infamous rapper Tupac Shakur, who influenced the industry and world for years to come. We start with him as a young child and his not-so pretty upbringing to discovering his passion for music and activism to his untimely passing in the late 90’s. The best thing I can say about the film itself is that the lead of the film, Demetrius Shipp Jr., does an excellent job at portraying Tupac. It’s obviously uncanny at how much he looks like the real Tupac, but much like the guys in Straight Outta Compton, he proves that he also has immense acting chops and is more than just a look-alike. The entire supporting cast is also very solid in the film, especially Danai Gurria and Jamal Woolard amusingly reprising his role as Christopher Wallace (Biggie Smalls/The Notorious B.I.G.)

Unfortunately, despite running around at 140 minutes, the film still somehow feels rushed in certain aspects of Tupac’s life. The editing is a bit overly choppy for comfort and honestly took me out of the flow of the story at many points. It’s hard to not be compelled by the real life events being depicted in this film, but it’s hard to get invested when the film barely has a structure or general pace to it. On top of that, the dialogue is unfortunately clunky and serves for mostly exposition opposed to generally good writing to naturally develop the characters. As a general history lesson and a mostly entertaining biopic, All Eyez on Me is completely watchable and serviceable. But for anyone wanting to learn more about Tupac himself and find nuance behind the story – this isn’t exactly the film to seek out.

The Blu-Ray itself is damn’ solid, full of many behind the scenes featurettes and deleted scenes. However, the transfer here is what is the most impressive. I can’t speak to how it transferred from its original theater quality to the home viewing format, but I was impressed by how great the quality was. In particular, the scenes with Tupac performing or recording blissfully blast the music in a crisp manner. If you’re a fan of the film/interested in checking it out, this is a worthy Blu-Ray to check out.

Film Rating: 2.5/5

Blu-Ray Rating: 4/5

BLU-RAY/DIGITAL HD SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Deleted Scenes
• “Legends Will Never Die: The Making of All Eyez on Me” Featurette
• “Becoming Tupac” Featurette
• “All Eyez on Me Conversations” Featurette
• Demetrius Shipp, Jr. Audition Tape

PROGRAM INFORMATION:

• Subtitles: Spanish, English SDH
• Feature Running Time: 140 minutes
• Blu-Ray Format: 1080p High Definition, 16×9 Widescreen 2.40:1 Presentation
• DVD Format: 16×9 Widescreen 2.40:1 Presentation
• Blu-Ray Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• DVD Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio

All Eyez on Me is now available on Digital HD and will be available on Blu-Ray and DVD September 5th