Let me start by saying I have been waiting with anticipation to watch this movie; Shocked to hear that? well you shouldn’t be, as I am a big Ice Cube fan. I do admit, I did pass on watching a few of his movies like “Are we there yet” and it’s Sequel but nonetheless, I think he is a great actor. So on to my review:
Now I know a bunch of you are going to expect to hear a lot about gangs, violence, sex and drugs; well in a sense, you’re right, but not like you think. Just think of “Straight Outta Compton” as in the eyes of the 3 most prominent rappers: Eazy-E ( Jason Mitchell ), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins) and Ice Cube (Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Jr.) and their rise to fame. Of course they couldn’t have done it without the rest of their crew: MC Ren (Aldis Hodge) and DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr.). All guys from the heart of South Central LA – Compton. Now to no surprise we know how brilliant Dr. Dre is, I mean he now is the richest Rapper of all time, and he did it not by rapping or producing, but by simply selling off his ‘BEATS’ brand; he was also the one who put this whole thing together. Dr. Dre, with the help of Eazy-E who is the man with the money; yes, money from his drug sales, are able to record a single. Dre seeks out some guys he knows to come out and record the song. Lyrics written by 17 year old Ice Cube and beats from Dre but to their surprise the group refuses to sing the lyrics as they represented the West coast and they weren’t. That’s what started the rise of N.W.A.
Straight Outta Compton was well written as it hit all aspects of what we as fans of N.W.A already knew, and what we didn’t. We also learn the struggles of living in Compton as a minority whether you were in a gang or not as racial profiling was in full bloom. You also remember how bad things got in LA from the Rodney King beating to his trial ending with the not guilty verdict that lead to the one of the worst riots in California.
Now to one of the things I admired the most: The actors. These unknown group of guys were outstanding! And it’s not like they were just handed out to people they wanted or already existing actors, these guys achieved these roles with sheer talent. For example O’Shea Jackson Jr. better know as Ice Cubes son went through extensive acting classes and was taught by the same acting couch as his dad and proved without a doubt that he deserved the part of his Dad. And that goes for all the others who dived into their roles to where you forgot they were not the real people. This movie was 2 1/2 hours long but well worth your time. Also, unlike the movie “Colors’ back in 1988 that caused a stir with gang member shootings in theater and put movie goers at risk to where added security was needed, “Straight Outta Compton” is nothing like that, yet seems to have fallen into the same category, as Universal Pictures is offering to reimburse theaters for the costs of extra security for this weekend’s launch of “Straight Outta Compton,” and sure, it could be due to the recent shooting that have happened or the recent demonstrations over police tactics in Ferguson. Or maybe because it’s assumed to be gang oriented, but either way don’t let any of this stop you from watching this movie, as I do give it 5 stars. And that’s always hard to give but this flick sure deserve it. So get Your N.W.A on and head over to a theater near you and don’t get caught “Straight Outta Popcorn“.
