There are plenty of musical biopics out there. Whenever a new one comes along, it’s hard not to think, “Does this really deserve a movie?”

However, if there’s anybody who deserves a biopic, it’s N.W.A. for their relentless fight for freedom is perfect for film.

Under F. Gary Gray’s impeccable direction, “Straight Outta Compton” tells the amazing story of Eazy-E, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube.

Beginning with N.W.A.’s inception in 1986, “Straight Outta Compton” covers a decade of success and failure surrounding Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins) and Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson, Jr.).

This delicate story is handled with tremendous care by the screenwriters.

Andrea Berloff’s original script and Jonathan Herman’s re-write come to life on this exceptional movie that doesn’t hold back a single punch.

At times, it is a brutal movie to watch as it truly showcases what these artists went through on a daily basis.

For a two-and-a-half-hour drama, the pacing in this movie is fast.

The movie seems to be action-packed until about half an hour before the credits roll.

While it makes sense to have the movie wind down at that time, the movie goes from fast and exciting to slow. Even though that last half hour matches the quality of the rest of the film it’s a noticeable and jarring change. The filmmakers should have eased into it instead of slamming the brakes.

There’s also a lack of attention to certain problems that N.W.A. dealt with such as homophobia and misogyny. Not shining light on those glaring problems feels a little dishonest.

Showing some of those issues on the screen could have helped keep the movie interesting and solved the pacing problem which makes the fact that they were overlooked especially disappointing.

Every script problem is hardly noticeable thanks to Mitchell, Hawkins, and Jackson, three incredible actors whose incredible performances shone through.

The emotion and energy in these performances is a sight to behold.

While Hawkins and Jackson deserve praise, Mitchell had the juiciest character, Easy-E.

Mitchell is given incredible material and knocks it out of the park. In a perfect world, he would get an Oscar nomination.

The real star here is Gray for his directing. The constant gritty and dreary look of the movie kept a consistent tone when the characters were going through such a monumental change. It all made for a very personal movie, especially with the shaky-cam giving off a documentary feel that Gray should be praised for.

No other 2015 summer movie has the gravitas and energy that this movie has. Even though it lost a bit of that energy in the final stretch, this biopic was extremely good thanks to outstanding performances and exceptional direction from Gray.