On one level, Straight Outta Compton is a pretty traditional music biopic, charting how a famous band got together, came up with some smash singles, enjoyed fame and wealth, and then eventually disintegrated. (When N.W.A started, the members were only in their late teens or early 20s.) The filmmaker, collaborating with cinematographer Matthew Libatique, walks a fine line between draping the band members in glory and emphasising their humble origins and youth. Gray, making his first feature since 2009’s Law Abiding Citizen, has a history with Ice Cube, directing some of his earliest music videos as well as the hit comedy Friday. They, alongside DJ Yella (Neil Brown, Jr.) and MC Ren (Aldis Hodge), form N.W.A, determined to reflect the poverty and racism they see around them in song. Dre (Corey Hawkins) and a budding entrepreneur and drug dealer who calls himself Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell). Straight Outta Compton focuses on three members of N.W.A’s quintet: provocative lyricist Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson, Jr.) a dedicated beatmaker and DJ known as Dr. Spanning roughly 10 years, the movie opens in 1986 in Compton, a notorious section of Southern California known for drug crime and racial tension between its black citizens and white law enforcement. Solid reviews will be needed to help Straight Outta Compton expand beyond its core constituencies. Endorsed by the band and featuring its biggest hits, the film will appeal to nostalgic hip-hop lovers, but even those with only a cursory knowledge of N.W.A should be sufficiently engaged by the group’s familiar career trajectory. Featuring no big names - unless you count Paul Giamatti in a supporting role as the band’s opportunistic manager - Straight Outta Compton is setting its sights on fans of N.W.A and the countless rap acts it inspired. Opening August 14 in the States, this Universal offering is one of the month’s most intriguing commercial wild cards. embodies the livewire spark that once powered this galvanic group. (playing his father Ice Cube) is a consistent highlight of a lively, hit-or-miss film.Įven when the film goes on biopic autopilot, Jackson, Jr. That said, a star-making turn from O’Shea Jackson, Jr. Gary Gray spending almost two-and-a-half hours chronicling the band in such a way that the marquee moments resonate more than the quieter ones do. Consequently, Straight Outta Compton feels both epic and a touch programmatic, director F. But Straight Outta Compton’s readymade movie-ness cuts both ways: despite a twisty, juicy and compelling story, there remains a staid conventionality that keeps the political and thematic undercurrents from being explored as satisfyingly as one might hope. Dre in Suge Knight’s office, a trainer was hiding underneath the table to cue the dog to stand and growl.The messy rise and fall of N.W.A, one of hip-hop’s most influential groups, provides ample material for a sprawling, entertaining biopic. The actor running was filmed separate from the dog chasing him. At no point was the dog running after the actor. When the dog runs after Eazy-E, trainers were again at opposite sides of the set, calling the dog to run from point A to point B. She called the dog to her and he ran from point A to point B, which was outside. When the dog runs through the door closely followed by the swat team, the trainer was outside the backdoor. When the police break down the doors and everyone runs off in the chaos, the dog was not on set for that scene. In the opening scene where we see the dog walk through the room, the trainer used a brownie to have the dog walk from one side of the room to the other. This scene was shot in several takes over one evening. In the opening sequence, we see the pit-bull eating from a bowl, then running through the house when the police break in the doors, then chasing the Eazy-E character outside before the actor jumps over a fence.
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