Tupac: Resurrection

2003

Tupac: Resurrection

Critics Consensus

There's no question where the director's loyalty lies in this one-sided tribute; however, Tupac's charisma makes this doc an engaging sit.

Tupac: Resurrection Photos

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Movie Info

A documentary about the pivotal hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur that is narrated entirely in the words of the deceased artist himself. Through a variety of interviews, journal readings, poetry performances, private home movies, and never-before-seen concert footage, the film serves as a "self-portrait" of a cultural icon whose career and persona, both, continue to grow from beyond the grave.

Rating:

R (for strong language and images of drugs, violence and sex)
Genre:

Documentary, Musical & Performing Arts, Television
Directed By:

Lauren Lazin
In Theaters:

Jan 22, 2003 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Jun 15, 2004
Box Office:

$7,646,264
Runtime:

115 minutes
Studio:

Paramount Pictures

Cast

Tupac Shakur

Critic Reviews for Tupac: Resurrection

All Critics (89) | Top Critics (35) | DVD (8)

It's amazing stuff.

Nov 17, 2003

Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic
It never addresses the problem that the more Tupac opens his mouth to explain what his music is or isn't about, and what role in society it is or isn't supposed to serve, the more obvious it becomes that his views aren't reflected in the actual music.

Nov 15, 2003

Stephanie Zacharek
Salon.com
Top Critic
It's great to hear a person no longer with us captured so bountifully in interviews, talking and even bubbling about his friends, his legacy and his scrapes.

Nov 14, 2003 | Rating: 2.5/4

Mike Clark
USA Today
Top Critic
[An] absorbing experience.

Nov 14, 2003 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
Top Critic
While Tupac: Resurrection includes some never-before- seen family photos and performance footage, and excerpts from the late rapper's journals, it offers little in the way of new information or insight into the rapper's world.

Nov 14, 2003 | Rating: 2/4

Tina Potterf
Seattle Times
Top Critic
Fans, of course, will devour this film, but there's plenty to chew on for the uninitiated as well.

Nov 14, 2003 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

James Sullivan
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic
It'd be easy to write off Paramount's Tupac: Resurrection as a cheap publicity stunt.

May 24, 2014 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
Tupac's evolution as an artist showed us a young man who was an activist, involved in the community, who showed signs of becoming a more self-aware and self-critical artist, as his music moved from the political to the personal.

Sep 12, 2012 | Rating: 77/100 | Full Review…

Dan Jardine
Cinemania
Gripping documentary, see it with your teens.

Dec 29, 2010 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
The winning conceit of producer/director Lauren Lazin's flamboyant documentary about the life of Tupac Shakur is that the late rapper's voice is the primary source the audience hears.

May 15, 2009 | Rating: B | Full Review…

Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
Whether he's dead or alive, this film reveals Tupac to be a scared, skinny kid with a gun, and a vulnerable human being who could easily be pierced by bullets, just like the rest of us.

May 25, 2007 | Rating: 4/4

Kam Williams
Afro-American
A dishearteningly incomplete portrait.

May 4, 2005 | Rating: C | Full Review…

Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

View All Critic Reviews (89)

Audience Reviews for Tupac: Resurrection

Jan 03, 2013

This was a pretty amazing documentary. I was legitimately mesmerized by some of Tupac's interviews, which are very effectively used as narration for the entire film. He was a true poet, and I'm not sure that I've ever seen anybody express themselves so eloquently and with such persuasion as he did when he was talking about something he was passionate about. Great stuff.

Jared H Super Reviewer
May 27, 2010

Undeniably more faithful to how a biopic movie than others. 2Pac was one of the greatest Rappers out there, & I'm thankful I got a chance to meet this guy at the age of 6 (one year after I met Chris Wallace). I was a Compton boy. May his soul rest in peace.

Frisby 2 Super Reviewer
Feb 07, 2009

A 2003 documentary about the life and times of rapper Tupac Shakur. What?s unique about the film is that while Tupac was alive he had given so many interviews that they were able to edit them all into a consistent narrative, as such the movie is entirely narrated by the film?s subject even though he had been killed years before the film went into production. This easily could have been corny, but the filmmakers approached it with the seriousness of a historian. Also, the production values on this are great, for a movie that consists almost entirely of archival footage this must have had a relatively huge budget. The approach has it?s weaknesses, namely that Tupac is not exactly the most objective observer of his life and he doesn?t have the benefit of hindsight. I suspect that if he?d lived to look back on everything that?s here his narration would be pretty different. Still, this is a great and unique doc about a talented and fascinating person.

MJS M Super Reviewer
Jan 07, 2008

I watched this documentary,not knowing much about this man beyond his gangster rapper reputation.I am not a fan of gangster rap,but this young man was an amazingly intelligent,insightful tour de force. He did indeed have talent for his genre but more importantly,he had great insight into society and politics.I learned a great deal from this film,and understand how his death resonated around the world. A modern day poet and social satirist-with lasting influence on his fans.

Audrey L Super Reviewer