With “All Eyez on Me,” director Benny Boom seems forever torn between turning the life and death of Tupac “2PAC” Shakur into the next “La Bamba” (1987) and “Straight Outta Compton” (2015). What it completely forgets, however, is having an identity. In its place are two elements far less impressive: derivative storytelling and gratuitous exposition. Faithful to the Biopic-101 trope, it nauseously over-glamorizes Tupac Shakur (played by Demetrius Shipp Jr. in his acting debut) every chance it gets. 

The decision comes at a heavy price: passing up the opportunity to exploit his role in the ’90s sociopolitical landscape. Unfortunately, deification seems to be the makers’ overbearing agenda. Cinematographer Peter Menzies Jr. (”Gods of Egypt,” 2016) shoots every frame to make Tupac look like the pinnacle of humanity. Between the hedonism and the hit singles, though, there is very little even to give a damn. The protagonist is an irreverent shell of his source.

“All Eyez on Me” is not devoid of positives—its two biggest ones being highly talented women elevating roles they don’t deserve. Danai Gurira (television’s “The Walking Dead”) is an absolute revelation. She gives life to a character whose arc has no payoff—that is no mean feat. Kat Graham (The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries”) is phenomenal as Jada Pinkett, despite the narrative itself treating her character like a filler role.

The biggest surprise of “All Eyez on Me” is Jarrett Ellis. Imbibing both the characteristics and diction of Snoop Dogg, Ellis steals the show. Shamefully, the story is not about him—or anything remotely interesting. As for its headlining cast member, all one can say is that you can look and act the part, but if nothing is compelling enough to back it up, all you’re doing is a two-hour-long hollow imitation—and by the time you are through the last over-expository dialogue in the film, you realize how exhausting the experience has been.

Skipping out on any insight worthy of Tupac’s legacy, “All Eyez on Me” instead succumbs to being a shell of a film that’s neither a biography nor an ode to the evolving music scene in the ’90s. Your Eyez deserve better than this.