Dearly departed rapper, actor, poet and activist Tupac Shakur, also known as 2Pac or Makaveli, will rise again when his biopic, All Eyez on Me , debuts this summer. Piggybacking off of the success of the N.W.A biopic, Straight Outta Compton, there are great expectations for the film to be a blockbuster. There's also Tupac's monstrous influence on hip-hop culture that also bears weight on the reception of the movie. The latest trailer gives us yet another glimpse into whether the film, if any, can live up the hype of such of an infamous legend.
Directed by Benny Boom and starring newcomer and damn good Tupac look-a-like Demetrius Shipp, Jr., the film promises to tell the untold story – the truth behind the headlines – of Tupac Shakur. With an artist as infamous as Tupac, whose own story has only just folded into myth instead of recent history, that’s a lofty goal. The trailer paints a broad picture of ‘Pac’s life, giving us hints of his experiences with his mother Afeni Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G. and young Jada Pinkett before she became a Smith. We also get an eyeful of his life on the streets of Baltimore, his time in jail and his time on Death Row Records leading up to his untimely death at 25. However, the most introspective part of the clip is the opening, where we see a young Tupac listening to his stepfather speak at a Black Panther rally, showing us the inspiration behind the poet who inspired so many.
While the trailer doesn’t give us much beyond some incredible visuals that recall the events of yesteryear, nor anything more than previous trailers, there is obviously promise. The merit of the film will be revealed when it hits theaters on June 16, 2017.
