Dope
(2015/Universal Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
A+/B Sound: A+/B Extras: C+ Film: A-
Dope
is, at first glance, a movie that has the usual teen coming of age
story. With that theme there comes the hints of comedy riddled
throughout, but that does not just make up the whole entire movie.
We follow Malcolm (Shameik Moore), who is a geeky teenager that
dreams of going to Harvard after he graduates from a rather poor area
in Los Angeles, California that people refer to as "The
Bottoms". Unfortunately, he has an obsession for '90s Hip-Hop
music and how those rappers and artists went about their ways back
then.
The
word dope has a few meanings, which the Director (Rick Famuyiwa) and
Editor (Lee Haugen) bring to light at the very first image of the
movie and the word can mean an illegal drug that is being used for
recreation, a stupid person, or slang used to describe something as
excellent or approving. This is kind of an important message to
remember throughout the movie, because not only is it titled Dope,
but it also uses all three definitions of the word throughout, not to
mention it's one of the first words spoken by the main character in
the movie.
The
teenage coming of age tale makes up a big part of this movie;
however, it takes Malcolm (Moore) down a slightly different path from
what we have seen before. Malcolm and his two geeky friends Jib
(Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) have to ride their bikes
home every day through rough areas in their home town, the area they
refer to as "The Bottoms", but one day he is stopped by a
well known drug dealer in his town, Dom (A$ap Rocky), who tells him
to start talking to a girl across the street for him. As soon as
Malcolm (Moore) helps him it all starts going wrong.
Dope
shows us the struggles of growing up in this rough neighborhood and
how it affects your behavior and what you need to do to survive.
This type of drama has been seen before, but the movie gives a fresh
perspective on it with an engaging story of how these underprivileged
kids use their high intellect to figure out how to get out of a
problem and sell drugs.
However,
the movie does have a slight issue on the message it is trying to
tell us. The audience may be left wondering if they are to believe
that eventually everyone in "the hood" ends up selling dope
or left feeling that he is going to turn out differently than the
people Malcolm (Moore) encounters and blend his school smarts with
the street smarts.
The
cinematography in Dope
is actually quite good. Each shot matches up pretty well to the
scene and looks beautiful, especially in the Blu-ray 1080p with its
widescreen 2.40:1 format. The colors are very warm and pop with
almost a retro looking vibe we get from the main characters
personalities and clothing. The image quality is great and taking
the word straight from the movie, it looks "dope". There
is much dialogue and some "old school 90s rap/hip-hop music that
come through crystal clear with its lossy Dolby Digital 5.1, lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and especially the lossless DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 that is at least, if not past, theatrical quality
presentation.
The
bonus features on the Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack for Dope
include Dope
is Different
and Dope
Music.
It also includes a digital quality that is in HD if watched on the
proper source.
-
Jordan Whiteko
