Being a geek definitely ain't what it used to be.

After months of buzz, 2015 Sundance Film Festival darling Dope, premiered in theaters nationwide over the weekend. With a fresh-faced cast, big name backing and plenty of hip-hop cameos only a well-versed rap geek can appreciate, Dope introduces the spirit of '90s hip-hop to a new generation.

Though Dope has reminiscent touches of both the innocent Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the gritty Boyz in the Hood, Director Rick Famiyuwa, whose credits include The Wood and Brown Sugar, took risks to make sure his "coming-of-age" tale could be set apart from the rest.

Narrated by Forest Whitaker, Dope tells the story of an ambitious yet timid '90s hip-hop geek who has to keep his morals afloat despite being both literally and figurative pulled to the bottom.

Malcolm, played amazingly by Shameik Moore, lives in The Bottoms, one of Inglewood, Calif.’s toughest neighborhoods. A place where kids get jumped for their Jordans, catch stray bullets and are considered losers if they want to go to college.

Aside from some modern day appendages like his iPhone, Malcolm lives twenty years in the past. Even though he gets ridiculed and bullied on a daily basis, Malcolm is not afraid to be different. He sports a hightop fade, digs through vinyl crates with his friends Diggy (Kiersy Clemons) and Jib (Tony Revolori) and hopes to get into Harvard with his analytic essay on Ice Cube's "It Was A Good Day."

Though Malcolm's lived most of his life avoiding trouble, the movie wouldn't be any fun if trouble didn't find him. As with many teen comedies, the plot is kickstarted into motion by adolescent love. Malcolm and his crew attend drug dealer Dom's birthday party, (a convincing cinematic debut for A$AP Rocky), in hopes of getting closer to his crush, Nakia (Zoë Kravitz).

When the party ends in a shootout, Malcolm accidentally ends up with a backpack full of drugs and has to figure out how to get rid of them without getting killed or ruining his chances of a future. Which is worse? That's for the viewer to decide.

As Malcolm, Diggy and Jib reluctantly tackle the adventure ahead of them, the audience sees more familiar faces pop up. Singer Quincy Jones, Workaholics' Blake Anderson and supermodel Chanel Iman have minor yet memorable roles (Iman plays a bored, coked-out rich girl) and Atlanta rapper Kap G serves as one of Malcolm's last hurdles in getting rid of the dope.

It becomes increasingly clear that hip-hop is not only the backdrop of the film, but a character itself to help guide and comfort the band of misfits. Malcolm, Diggy and Jib figure out everything from prom dates and college applications to deep web Molly sales and drug dealer blackmail together. Yeah, it gets real. Dope is clearly a 21st century odyssey to manhood but without the cheesy morals or sympathy-soaked monologues.

Boasting executive production credits from Pharrell Williams and Sean "Diddy" Combs, the film was destined to use hip-hop as its bench marker from the beginning. The soundtrack features '90s throwbacks from A Tribe Called Quest, Nas and Naughty by Nature mixed with original tracks from Kap G, LolaWolf and Awreeoh (the film's fictional band), which only further drives home the movie's motif of mixing old and new.

With unexpected plot twists, killer throwback fashion and triumphant David and Goliath moments, Dope redefines the teen comedy in a more diversified, millennial context.

For the hip-hop geeks keeping score, check out how many rappers make cameos in the film and see if you can spot them when you watch for yourself. Dope is in theaters now.

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