Chris At The Pictures

This is a superb piece of edutainment from director F. Gary Gray, taking its name from the debut album of NWA. It charts the rise of the group through the late 1980’s to early 90’s, following Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E and more from the mean streets of their hometown to world-conquering success. I should mention that watching this movie for me was like diving into the deep end: I knew nothing about the NWA, Compton, the Rodney King riots or even rap music as an art form. It is to the film’s very great credit that I found it as engaging, entertaining and tense as any mega-blockbuster action drama.

Straight Outta Compton really comes into its own in the performance department. The decision to cast O’Shea Jackson Jr. (the son of Ice Cube) as a younger version of his own father is an unexpected masterstroke: not only is the physical resemblance uncanny, but Jackson Jr. carries off the way Cube holds himself and even his facial tics to boot. Jason Mitchell also turns in a very fine performance as the young Eazy-E, drawing out the emotional core of the film while his counterparts (Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre, Aldis Hodge as MC Ren, etc.) form a ring of confidence and energy around him. Paul Giamatti also appears to be having more than his fair share of fun as silly-wigged manager Jerry Heller, doing a lot of shouting and spitting in a quite diverting manner.

Whilst it’s true that a film like this is destined by default to re-tread the usual rock biopic beats, Compton differentiates itself by having the ‘behind-the-scenes’ moments (usually all too brief in its contemporaries) directed with as much – if not more – vigour, steadiness and attention to detail as the stage-shaking live shows and street-bound brawls: there’s sincerity behind the swagger.

Subtlety and delicacy aren’t always the guiding light, however. Wolf of Wall Street-level displays of excess run rampant throughout the second half, lending the length of the movie a somewhat bloated feeling. NWA’s success isn’t necessarily wearing to watch, rather the fact that I’m more interested to see the how and the why than the what. Problems also arise when the film avoids tackling the well-documented misogyny intertwined within NWA’s rise to power. A true-to-life story that’s prepared to address violence and political unrest shouldn’t be afraid to do the same with sexism.

Perhaps the film’s greatest feat (especially for those of us with little to no knowledge of the story, the debut album, or rap music itself) is reminding us that a genre of music stereotyped as merely provocative and thuggish is rooted in honesty and emotion. But for a few miniscule missteps, Straight Outta Compton’s depiction of NWA is as uncensored, urgent, and powerful as their music.

From the directors of this year’s incredibly successful The Lego Movie, 22 Jump Street is the successor to 2012’s 21 Jump Street, a comedy about two underachieving cops sent back to high school to bring down a drug ring. Fresh from their success, agents Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are instructed to take on another undercover mission, this time within a local college. Under the stern eye of Captain Dickson (Ice Cube), it’s up to Schmidt and Jenko to uncover the source of a new drug whilst trying – and failing – to avoid the temptations of college life.

It has to be said that having not seen the previous film and feeling a little unsure about the trailer (plus my in-built aversion to Jonah Hill ever since Superbad) I was probably pre-disposed not to like it…but I did…a lot. The key is that it is a film written and directed by people who understand that comedy doesn’t have to just be someone shouting out loud about why what happened on-screen was funny. The comedy is an eclectic mix of referential humour, witticisms, physical slapstick and more. It knows what it is and has fun with it. 

In terms of characters, the most laughs come from an almost permanently irate Ice cube as the police captain, his frustration and annoyance with the two leads creates a nice selection of in-jokes, proving that he works best when he’s not trying to be taken seriously. Channing Tatum still has all the charisma of a slab of meat but the dialogue he’s given helps him retain the bromantic chemistry with Hill that toes – and tries desperately to cover up – the outer-most borders of homoeroticism, the latter providing just enough laughs to bring him that one step closer to redemption in my eyes. The side characters are few and far between but those that are there handle themselves well with the exception of Patton Oswalt as a lecturer who briefly shows up to be reliably obnoxious then thankfully disappears for the remainder of the film.

Something that really stood out for me is that the college campus in the film – in a break from usual Hollywood tradition – appears to be peopled by people and not the contents of an Abercrombie and Fitch advert, and while there a couple of the old stereotypes hanging about here and there, they’re not incessantly annoying and a couple of them actually have a couple of neat twists tied to them. There is a small section about 20 minutes into the film where Jenko and Schmidt first walk onto campus where things sag a little in the comedy department but luckily this doesn’t last very long or detract from the overall enjoyment. 

Sporting enjoyable leads who bounce off each other both figuratively and literally, a cavalcade of comedy, a light tone and action set pieces that are snappy and energetic, 22 Jump Street is just want you want in a summer buddy-cop movie, and will keep you laughing consistently right up to – and including – the end credits. 

4 stars