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PHILIP BOOTHThe rapper's refusal to accept responsibility for his actions is a recurring theme in a new film oddly but effectively narrated by him.
Tupac: Resurrection, a moving account of the tough life and violent death of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur, inspires a gut reaction: His death was one terrible waste of talent.
The controversial, charismatic performer, who gained acclaim for his work as an actor in Juice, Poetic Justice and other films, was 25 when he was shot in Las Vegas seven years ago, shortly after a violent melee at the MGM Grand following the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight. Shakur, whose following was huge and global, died six days later.
Sadly, the rapper made the mistake of believing his own hype, gravitating to the gun culture and misogyny that he and other gangsta rappers so vividly portrayed in their music and videos. The son of two Black Panthers (his mother, Afeni Shakur, is the documentary's executive producer), he attempted to justify "thug life" mythology and imagery as a positive influence on young African-Americans, a means of empowerment.
How did Shakur respond to questions about his influence on fans who might not distinguish between empowerment and violence? "That's the part I haven't figured out yet," he is shown saying. It's a revealing moment, remarkable in part because of its inclusion in a documentary overseen by his mom. Her participation in the project, directed by MTV executive Lauren Lazin, allowed Lazin to use photos, home movies, letters and poems penned by her son.
Shakur, oddly but effectively, narrates his own documentary. "I want to be an angel of God," he is heard saying, as the camera flies over mountains and desert, and through clouds. "This is my story, a story about ambition, violence, redemption and love."
Born in New York a month after his mother left prison, he later moved with his family to Baltimore, where he attended a prestigious performing arts school. As an older teenager, he relocated to Oakland, Calif., and lived on the streets.
He eventually hooked up with Digital Underground. The hip-hop group hired Shakur as a roadie and dancer, and he made his recording debut with it in 1991. The next year, he released his first solo disc, the gold-selling 2Pacalypse Now. His second album went platinum, hitting the R&B and pop charts.
Shakur defined himself as an artist reporting on the most violent aspects of hip-hop culture. "My ear is to the street," he says. He couldn't resist the pull of the lifestyle, though. He began racking up arrests, variously related to a fight culminating in the death of a 6-year-old bystander, an attack on Menace II Society director Allen Hughes, the shooting of two off-duty Atlanta police officers and a sexual assault on a young fan, for which he served eight months in prison.
Shakur's refusal to accept responsibility for his actions is a theme of the film; he blames circumstances, including his celebrity, for his hassles with the law. News footage shows the accounts of his shooting, which took place while he was riding in a car driven by Suge Knight, then president of Death Row Records.
Lazin, unlike filmmaker Nick Broomfield (Biggie and Tupac), doesn't hard-sell any of the leading conspiracy theories, including one regarding the involvement of Biggie Smalls, killed six months later in Los Angeles. "I had a prophecy," Shakur says about his death. From the evidence, he did little to avoid its fulfillment.
Tupac: Resurrection
Grade: B
Director: Lauren Lazin
Cast: Tupac Shakur
Rating: R; profanity, drug use, sexual situations, violence
Running time: 90 min.