Enjoyable Biopic! 7/10

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2016)

Review: As I was into Hip Hop when N.W.A. first came out, I was really looking forward to watching this movie and the fact that Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, and Yella, all contributed there services to this movie, it really did make this a no nonsense, straight from there mouth, enjoyable movie. It certainly brought back some memories! I wasn't really into the whole LA scene until I saw Colors, which really opened my eyes to the gang problems over there. When I first heard "Straight Outta Compton", mixed with Dre's beats, I was completely sold and I bought my LA Raiders hat, along with there singles and albums. This lengthy movie gives a step by step rise to fame of N.W.A. and how there popularity affected each member. MC Ren decided to stick by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright's side, during his time with music manager Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti) but after releasing a couple of albums, Dr. Dre went with Suge Knight to create Death Row and Ice Cube started his single rapping career with Bryan Turner at Priority records, due to money and contract problems. Death Row records became an instant success with rappers like Tupac Shakur and Snoop Doggy Dogg on board and Ice Cube's debut album, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted is a huge success. To cut a long story short, they both have problems whilst pursuing there career in music and the roads that they all had chosen, took away the enjoyment that they first felt when they started out in the music business. When Eazy E finds out that Jerry Heller has been embezzling money through the group, he decides to cut all ties with the him and he approaches Ice Cube and Dr. Dre to work on new material but Eazy collapses during a recording session and is taken straight to the hospital, were he is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. He finally dies on the 26th of March, 1995 and a year later, Dre cuts all ties with Death Row records because he doesn't like the way that Suge Knight runs the company. To make sure that Suge Knights evil ways doesn't put Dre's life in danger, he gives him full control of all there previous material, which basically leaves Dre with no power of his hit records. Meanwhile, Ice Cube's career is a huge success and he has also entered the movie world with hit films like Boyz 'N Tha Hood and Friday. Dre's new label, Aftermath, sees new artist Eminem and 50 Cent, become a international success along with his Beats franchise, which is eventually sold to Apple for a huge $3 Billion. To see them come together for this project, proves that they have put there previous "Beef" behind them and it's great to see that they have dedicated this movie to Eazy E, who really was the root to there success. Anyway, the performances were top class from the young N.W.A. cast and the director touched on some delicate matters involving the police, the L.A. Riots and the violence involving Suge Knight. For the people who didn't follow the group back in the early 90's, this movie must be an eye opener but I personally knew about a lot of the material in this movie after following them for so many years. That's not to say that this detailed film wasn't put together well and I appreciate the fact that the director is celebrating such a talented group that brought L.A. Hip Hop to the forefront, so I hope that it gets all of the recognition that it deserves when it comes to Oscar time. Enjoyable!
Round-Up: This movie was directed by F. Gary Gray, 46, whose first movie was Murder Was The Case, back in 1995, starring Snoop Dog, so it's ironic this his last movie would be about N.W.A. He also directed Friday in 1995 and Set It Off, the Negotiator, a Man Apart, the Italian Job remake, Be Cool and Law Abiding Citizen. He doesn't seem to shy away from the big projects and he's tipped to be directing the next Fast & Furious, which they haven't started to work on yet. I would like to see him celebrate other Hip Hop artists, who made the movement special during the 80's and 90's, because he done a great job with this film. It didn't seem like it was over 2 hours long because he covered so many different elements of the group, which made it interesting and a joy throughout.
Budget: $28million Worldwide Gross: $200million
I recommend this movie to people who are into their Biography, Drama, Music movies starring O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr., Aldis Hodge, Paul Giamatti, Marlon Yates Jr., and R. Marcos Taylor. 7/10