As a long-time devoted, hardcore, fan of the group known so dubiously as N.W.A;  whose lyrics speak volumes about the era in which they grew up in. An era that meant walking home alone at night on the streets made you easily susceptible to a search without probable cause. An era where rap wasn’t considered ‘art’ and Ice Cube, along with his song mates, were considered ‘gang bangers’. F Gary Gray pays a respectful tribute to one of the most notorious groups in history, a group who spun the sub genre known as ‘gangsta rap’, was never afraid to speak their minds, and, perhaps, the most important, never forgot where they came from.

For starters, to just highlight the importance of such high tension issues going on in Compton during the mid-80s. The film opens in the backdrop of 1986, where we first come across Eric “Eazy E” Wright (Jason Mitchell) he is peddling weapons to a local drug house, only to be infiltrated moments later by an incoming squad of swat officers with a batten tank. A scene which itself only lasts maybe five minutes (and before the title logo) but sure gets you in the mindset to understand the harsh circumstances that fell during this time-frame. In fact: for those too young to recall the era, Gray uses archival footage to let us know this was the height of the crack epidemic and LAs Blood and Crip turf wars.

Meanwhile Andre “Dr Dre” Young (Corey Hawkins) is hustling daily to make his DJ career more than just a cheap $50 gimmick, while his pal Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson Jr) is busy understanding the world around him. This world he observes would later become the voice of his disgust with law enforcement officials, such hatred that will fuel songs like “F-The Police” or, the most obvious, “Straight Outta Compton”. Along the way, DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr) and MC Ren (Aldis Hodge) join the group, and will channel their lyrical crusade against the world, and inform the public on the knowledge of growing up on the streets in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods ever.

Knowledge that is indeed power, the first third of the film serves as a terrific origin story, which, instead of highlighting the glamour, showcases the group’s raw talent. Like a scene where Dre tells Eazy to just “feel the flow” while recording the hit single Boyz In The Hood, a song which still stands the test of generations today. It’s these small inserts incorporated throughout the lengthy 142 mins run-time, that can help the audience, those who may not be familiar with them, understand the role each membered played.

Written by Andrea Berloff and Jonathan Herman, Compton is the kind of film that can sweep you up in the thrall of the moment, than sit you back down in reality the next. It doesn’t hurt that your cast is flawless. Jackson Jr, who is a marvel to watch playing the younger version of his father, not only sells every scene, but possess all the right qualities: everything down to the mannerisms, quips, and complexion – during the more intricate montages (the concerts, recording sessions etc.) – I felt like I wasn’t just watching an actor, I was watching Ice Cube. Mitchell, playing the hardest of teens that will become N.W.A, Eazy E, pulls off his career making performance effortlessly. Just like E was in real life, Mitchell has more than just potential, then again the whole cast is just universally excellent.

Of course, if you don’t know the whole story, N.W.A (which stands for Niggaz With Attitudes), was only together for a blink of an eye. Just long enough to release a few hit records, and cause a political stir. After they get management from a sketchy Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti), is when everything starts to compile. Cube eventually leaves the group due to creative differences (he wrote most of the songs, and was receiving hardly any credit), he goes on to kick off his very successful solo career (and has some beef with his old pals, that is eerily reminiscent of the Drake vs Meek Mill situation happening today). Because of the performances, the actors make you feel the pain of them splitting. They give you the sense of how fast their world is moving, and how hard it is to get off the ride.  Soon, Dre jumps as well hitching his wagon for a time with Suge Knight, a man known for his viable scare tactics, for him: the violence in N.W.A’s lyrics is a way of life. He named his record company with Dre appropriately “Death Row”

Obviously, there is much to cover over the span of just two and half hours. Grey does jump from year to year at a fairly consistent pace. In one scene it’s Compton 87’ the next it very well could be 89’ at the prime of the group’s popularity. Most of this is rewarding, despite being probably a little to ‘by the motions’. In a scene that manages to be one of the more powerful, the group is shown hanging out in front of the studio taking a break from recording their first album when a squad car pulls up and proceeds to illegally detain them because they look like gang members. The sequence proves effectively chilling and specific to 2015 as it was in 1988. But before we have time to fully understand what has happened – Grey, smartly, cuts to Cube writing (and rapping) that little jingle we all love, “F-The Police”. This is a cheat, sure, as the cause and effect of that scene probably did not play out so quickly. But when you only have so much time, you need to make due. So it’s easy to forgive even the most easiest of cutting corners. Aside from a few rough patches of narrative getting swallowed up in the canvas (like Eazy E’s contraction of the Aids virus, which gets added as a last second addition to the story) the film still manages to keep up the energy.

In it’s final stretch, Compton squabbles from one intense moment in history to the next, a scene in Detroit where the group is told by local law enforcement that the performance of the song “F-The Police” is not permitted, to the group on stage doing JUST that, is so vigorously entertaining, I started chanting with them. Cube would later go on to write the cult-hit, Friday, have kids and settle down. Dre would be recording the Chronic with Snoop Dogg, as well as, Tupac. All the while, the verdict of the Rodney King trial swept the nation, and the riots which followed. A pivotal sense of community washes over all these interactions, and Gray has such an eye for creating a glossy beautiful looking Los Angeles, I felt like I was in the middle of it all. This is a film where you really don’t need to focus on the narrative to appreciate what these guys did with their voices. If being brutally honest is how you succeed in this world, we could all learn from N.W.A. Straight Outta Compton is an often, funny, engaging, masterpiece that works best if we just set aside our differences and appreciate the music. Grade: A