Straight Outta Compton is at its most compelling when the band's adversaries are the authorities... But the film's energy level noticeably sags in the second half when the band are at odds with each other.
While no one will mistake this for a protest film-there are too many pool parties-the movie's portrait of a militarized police force all too eager to assault young black men can't help but resonate in our own moment.
It's a musical biopic in an urban warzone and we see how the culture of gangs and drugs and poverty and simmering racial conflicts shaped the group's angry message.
Straight Outta Compton aims to cross cultures and sanctify the wisdom of the street-to make a universal underdog story. It succeeds on a visceral level.
The backdrop of Rodney King-era L.A and the realness and rawness of N.W.A.'s music, not to mention the passionate and heartfelt performances of the film's three young leads gives the film an undeniable power.
This is a monster film. You will walk out feeling like you have been entertained, educated and emotionally fulfilled. Eight months into the year 2015, and this is the only perfect film that has hit the theaters. This is it.
The core of the story is business, the object is power, and the quirks of desire and twists of the unconscious are given no place in the struggle-which the movie sharply carries ahead to the present day.
