Considering I thought this looked like absolute shit I was honestly pleasantly surprised. It's very entertaining and the actors are all uniformly great - the three leads (who are all mostly unknowns) were all fantastic and elevated the material, and Paul Giamatti was strong in the movie's biggest supporting role. It's definitely directed with such flair and energy that the long running time goes by rather quickly. The first third of the film is easily its strongest point. It definitely does dive into the typical biopic cliches and the last third feels beyond rushed - it's like F. Gary Gray suddenly realized he had more ground to cover than his running time would allow for and crammed a bunch of scenes in to wrap everything up. Still though, this isn't a bad movie at all and there's definitely a sense of timeliness to it as well that should do nothing but help its box office prospects. B

That's kind of NWA though, they just kind of blew up and disbanded nearly as fast.

I can't really give this a review as grew up a huge fan during the late 80's so I was pretty stoked about it since the first trailer. I was really impressed with all the new actors they found to play the characters especially Ice Cube's son. "Note" to Will Smith this is how you groom your kids to stardom let them earn it!! I'll give this a proper review soon but right now I'm too geeked up after seeing twice in 24 hours.

Apparently there is another hour filmed but they had to cut the run time down, will probably release an extended cut with the Blu-Ray

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It's pretty EPIC! and everybody is right about the first hour or so being the strongest, but even with the weaker second half it's still a very well done biopic. Jason Mitchell's portrayal of Eazy-E is easily the stand out performance here eventhough the rest of the main cast are solid aswell especially Cube's son, Paul Giamatti, and the dude who played Suge Knight was spot on. I loved all the concert scenes in the beginning and the hotel bit is probably the best shot sequence in the movie as far as camerawork goes. I'm very curious about the 3.5 hour cut F. Gary Gray was talking about in interviews because you could tell that ALOT had to be cut out due to time constraints, but I definitely want to check it out when it gets released.

It's always hard watching a film about something you've been a big fan of for years. It's so easy to be disappointed - awesome that you seemed to have loved it.

It's a biopic for sure, but the best parts happen when it steps out of the significant events checklist and just tells its story. The opening scenes with Eazy and Cube, the hotel scene and the entire Detroit concert were fantastic pieces of filmmaking. It starts to drag a little bit after they break up, and I don't think they villify Heller enough to justify the conclusion to that story, but the ending hits all the right emotions and makes up for it.

I thought this was excellent. Ice Cube's son and (especially) the actor who played Easy E were great.

Starts off with a fiery, magnetic first hour before settling in as a more conventional biopic in its second half. But this is a very entertaining, well-acted look at the true formation of gangsta rap and the relevant themes N.W.A.'s music still holds today. B+

An invigorating, very well-crafted hip-hop epic. On a structural level, yes, it is a standard rise-and-fall-and-die-and-transcend musical biopic, but the acting is energized and the verisimilitude is intricate and vivid. It brings these before-they-ascended pop-culture titans (Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, etc.) and the environment which forged them (the criminal and racial turmoil of south L.A. in the late 1980s) to life in an arresting and immediate way. The considerable two-and-a-half-hour running time simply flies by. Whether he or she is a fervent acolyte of N.W.A and their knotty family tree of influences and solo discographies or completely ignorant of rap, I believe any viewer will recognize the artistry, ferocity, and almost nerdy level of enthusiasm inherent in this film's conception and assembly.

A-

I was impressed by the film's cinematography throughout: a perfect blend of grit, shadow, and elegance (the camera often winds through and glides over spaces without cuts). The hotel scene is absolute dynamite on a visual level. Then I noticed the d.p. is the very talented Matthew Libatique, whose credits include Requiem for a Dream, Tigerland, and Black Swan.

Oh, and, in my opinion, the second half is not considerably superior or inferior to the first. I love the tension with Suge Knight, for example, and a newly humbled Eazy's attempts to reconnect with his former collaborators.

The Detroit concert has to be one of the most powerfully shot scenes in recent memory. Straight Outta Compton takes a while to get going, but when it goes, it doesn't stop as it races breathlessly towards its conclusion. It very much reminded me of Dreamgirls; it would have been interesting to see this as a full blown rap musical a la In the Heights or Hamilton.

B+

I liked it. The film is anchored by four strong performances and I liked the film's anger. Those 100 minutes in the middle when the band forms and is performing and are becoming a household name, that's as good as band-forming movies get.

But I saw the Director's Cut. And I'm a NWA newbie. It doesn't surprise me that there's a 210 minute version out there. I'm not sure who that cut is for. Even the 167 minute cut is cutting a fine line between necessity and excess. It's a bit of a slog. Plot points feel repetitive. Money destroyed them? Get out! Oh wait, you're going to tell me again. And the female characters just flow in and out of the film. Let's tack on another 50 minutes. At that point it should've just been a miniseries. Actually, I think the whole thing would've worked better as a miniseries.

Those 100 middle minutes save the day though and I'll probably like the theatrical cut much better, or at least that's the cut I'll watch next if I ever choose to watch the film again.

*** (B)

Good and thorough biopic. The leads are all very well cast and the music is dope. Not much to add, but surely one of the 2015 films not to miss. Sometimes I wish it was even able to get deeper considering the time span it covers (6-8) years, and even it runs +2.5 hours, it kept me engaged to the end. Giamatti also puts in one of his best roles with this. I did miss a personal connection, as I was never interested in these artists or its music before. Afterwards I felt inclined to look up some of the songs though.

B+