Twenty one years after his death, Tupac Amaru Shakur’s life is captured and retold through a movie.
All Eyez On Me premiers today on the big screens. (Paradise Cinema)
The movie, budgeted at 45 million USD, was directed by Benny Boom and officially released today.
Critics have already been at it.
Leigh Paatsch, National Film Critic, News Corp Australia Network said:
Unfortunately, this soulless, selectively truthful scraping of the story of the pioneering rap genius — shot dead in an unsolved drive-by at age 25 in 1996 — is an actual no-brainer of a movie.
Jake Wilson from The Age Entertainment said:
As a whole, All Eyez On Me's concerns are more recognisably human than in most modern Hollywood films. But while there are striking moments throughout, there's also a great deal which is simply corny or laborious, such as most of the material about Shakur's dealings with record labels.
Nevertheless, All Eyez On Me is said to capture the true and untold story of prolific rapper, actor, poet and activist Tupac Shakur (played by Demetrius Shipp Jr.), from his early days in New York to his status as one of the world's most recognised and influential voices.
Against all odds, Shakur's raw talent, powerful lyrics and revolutionary mindset establish him as a cultural icon whose legacy continues to grow long after his death.
Born Lesane Parish Crooks (June 16, 1971 - September 13, 1996), he was also known by his stage names 2Pac, Makaveli, and Pac.
He has been described as a tireless creator who, by the time of his death at 25, had recorded more than 700 songs. And as of 2007, sold over 75 million records worldwide.
Even after his death, he is consistently ranked as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time. On April 7, 2017, Shakur was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
His legacy lives on. Shakur is held in high esteem by other MCs:
In the book How to Rap, Bishop Lamont (Philip Martin) notes that Shakur "mastered every element, every aspect" of rapping and Fredro Starr (Fred Scruggs) of Onyx says Shakur "was a master of the flow".
Chuck Philips writes that "the slaying [of Tupac Shakur] silenced one of modern music's most eloquent voices—a ghetto poet whose tales of urban alienation captivated young people of all races and backgrounds. The 25-year-old Shakur had helped elevate rap from a crude street fad to a complex art form, setting the stage for the current global hip-hop phenomenon".