The recently released Hollywood bio-pic “Straight Outta Compton” is, to put it mildly, a must see for any and all music lovers.

The film follows the beginning and end of the infamous rap group N.W.A, focusing on the ensembles beginnings in 1989 Los Angeles, throughout the tumultuous breakup and attempted reunion of the group prior to the death of one of the founding members, Eric “Eazy-E” Wright.

Within the first five minutes of the film you are struck by the powerful environment of 1989 Los Angeles. Reagen-era politics empowered the police to do what they wanted, when they wanted, to whomever they wanted, and this film certainly does an exemplary job of capturing the violence and fear of the setting. The cinematography and overall writing are most definitely on point.

One of the greatest surprises of the film comes in the form of O’Shea Jackson Jr. For those who are unfamiliar with Jackson, he is the son of N.W.A’s O’Shea “Ice-Cube” Jackson, and he plays his father in the film. Immediately we are able to see a striking resemblance between father and son, but the connection is even more powerful when we see Jackson performing as his father on stage. The body language alone is enough to force audiences to do a double take.

With amazing additional performances from Corey Hawkins as Andre “Dr.Dre” Young and Jason Mitchell as “Eazy-E,” the film is all but set on the shoulders of these three young actors. And they most certainly deliver. The emotion and power of the trio is a powerful catalyst throughout the film. When they’re laughing, we’re laughing with them, and when their hearts are breaking ours are breaking right along with them.
We are also graced with two cameos, of sorts, in the form of Keith Stanfield and Marcc Rose. Stanfield played the role of a young Cordozar “Snoop Dogg” Broadus while Rose filled the shoes of Tupac Shakur. The addition of these two men, while limited in screen time, set the tone of the film and the events that were transpiring outside of the N.W.A situation. From their body language and tone of voice it was very clear to audiences that these two men spent many hours learning to emulate such iconic musical game changers.

While the film does an amazing job of focusing on the issues of these three men, it does leave out two of the remaining members of N.W.A: Lorenzo “MC Ren” Patterson, and Antoine “DJ Yella” Carraby. Throughout the movie we see these two men more as sidekicks/partners to “Dr.Dre” and “Eazy-E”, rather than the separate characters that they should have been. Granted, they are condensing of years worth of time into a film that is less than two and a half hours long, but it seems as if there should have been a more egalitarian hand when it came to the writing of the script.

With those negatives aside, the film is most definitely worth seeing. You don’t have to be a fan of rap to enjoy the film, but it certainly helps. Aided by a soundtrack produced and recorded by “Dr.Dre” himself, the film is well worth the cost of admission and might even bring to your attention some amazing music that you weren’t aware of.