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Critics Consensus: Straight Outta Compton is a biopic that's built to last, thanks to F. Gary Gray's confident direction and engaging performances from a solid cast.
Critic Consensus: Straight Outta Compton is a biopic that's built to last, thanks to F. Gary Gray's confident direction and engaging performances from a solid cast.
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All Critics (227) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (199) | Rotten (28) | DVD (1)
The core of the story is business, the object is power, and the quirks of desire and twists of the unconscious are given no place in the struggle-which the movie sharply carries ahead to the present day.
It's very easy to imagine sing-along showings cropping up for years to come.
This movie about a group of risk-takers should have taken more risks itself.
Straight Outta Compton aims to cross cultures and sanctify the wisdom of the street-to make a universal underdog story. It succeeds on a visceral level.
Straight Outta Compton is so beholden to the appeasement of so many artists and legacies and estates that none of it coheres as a movie.
While no one will mistake this for a protest film-there are too many pool parties-the movie's portrait of a militarized police force all too eager to assault young black men can't help but resonate in our own moment.
Straight Outta Compton is confused as to whether we want to see NWA as the socially conscious group holding a mirror to society, or the string of debauched solo artists they became; the fact it tries to do both at once leaves it feeling confused.
If you're a fan of Cube and the gang, you've probably already made up your mind about seeing it, but if you're on the fence I recommend that you give it a shot.
One of the things I found so cool was how the music was in context with everything happening at the time...seeing it in context with the events unfolding...I don't know if you can ask for much more.
Straight Outta Compton could use a dose of reality about its own history. But it's a rare movie in depicting the stakes of prophetic, controversial art without losing sight of artistic process.
To the directors' credit, this film works for those deeply knowledgable about he hip-hop world and the novices alike. The movie works because it's about human nature, and therefore human fragility and the spirits' desire to forgive.
Jackson the Younger is a carbon copy of his father who makes him seem even greater than the original; he's somehow more Cube than Cube.
I was a barely born during the era of NWA, but I grew up listening to Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac because of my brother. I was unfamiliar with Eazy-E, but my brother gave me a little background of the beef between them. It was a great film I thought and the actors portrayed them well. It took me back for sure.
Super Reviewer
A very well-directed, provocative and comprehensive - albeit a bit overlong - biopic that shines with exquisite camera movements and amazing performances to tell this compelling story of the three men who popularized the gangsta rap movement that came up in the 1980s.
Maybe it helped not knowing most of the backstories of these characters, but "Straight Outta Compton" is one of the coolest films I have seen in 2015. It is an absolute blast to watch. Having just the right blend between witty dialogue between the crew and the grittiness of the streets, this film pulls off much more than I thought it would. My only complaint about this picture is that it visibly skips over life events, even though I did not know their stories, which felt obvious. That actually works in the films favour though, as the pacing of this film is great, which it definitely needed due to it's lengthy running time. I bought every line of dialogue each character said, making this definitely worthy of it's screenplay nomination at the 2016 Oscars. In the end, this is a brilliantly directed biopic that surprised me in more ways than one, and one that I will remember for a very long time. I love "Straight Outta Compton."
It's a stunning portrayal that starts from the famed-dangerous group and expands to the overall period of the late 80s/early 90s in hip-hop as well as inner-city cultures. Validity aside, Straight Outta Compton is an emphatic biopic of N.W.A. and its impact in various spectrums. The film's vibrant direction, narrative, musical sequences and performances by the members are bits and pieces that weld together to create the hardcore bravado illustrating the essence of the artists and doing it justice. 4/5
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