
Tupac: Resurrection
The story of an icon that left more than he took
I like most people of my generation wondered passively about what really happened to Tupac Shakur, the famed actor/gangster/rapper, who was gunned down after a Mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Was he killed because of an east coast, west coast thing? Did Suge Knight, his record producer, have anything to do with it, etc.? This movie answers none of those questions. Nor should it. It is about the life of a talented young man, not the death of one.
The movie is narrated by Tupac with stock footage from what I expect is an overwhelming amount of interview footage. It chronicles Tupac’s life from before his incubation, when his mother, a well respected Black Panther was serving time in prison, to that fateful evening in Las Vegas.
Many say that Tupac prophesized his death and this movie does much to strengthen that notion. More importantly however, is what Tupac was trying to be about. He had a clear vision of social responsibility, he was fallible, and often found himself in regrettable situations, but he wasn’t afraid to admit that he was wrong. Tupac has strong words. While watching, try to follow the lyrics of the footage when he is at a rap contest in high school. He is very political for his age and time. This movie could have easily felt clumsy, tripping over itself from one sequence to another while aggrandizing Tupac’s life. While it does seem a tad false in creating the image it desires, in very minute spots it is overall true to its intention: the story of an icon that left more than he took.
Written by: Jeremiah Price
Reviewers Rating: 8.5
Reader's Rating: 8.90
Reader's Votes: 11
Added: 26-Nov-2003
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