Using a number of television interviews combined with news footage, paper cuttings, old photos and Tupac's own hand written poetry, Lazin attempts to tell the tale of the star's life from humble beginnings, through to his own grisly demise at the hands of a car full of gunmen.

In between the lines, the film attempts to shed light on the enigmatic rapper, though despite clearly being a love of Tupac and his music, the director doesn't shy away from showing the rapper at his worst as well as his best.

This includes a lot of screen time dedicated to his several arrests and court cases, as well as those occasions where he would lose control and bad mouth anyone he didn't like.

As a result, a lot of what Tupac says is contradictory. One example is a scene in which he is caught on camera giving a rival gang member a good kicking, moments before explaining how he has 'nothing but love' for people.

As for what he stood for, the film outlines his upbringing in what he claims was poverty (several written biographies claim Tupac was far from poverty stricken), and his parents' roots, which lie firmly in the Black Panther movement.

And while some of his comments and ideas are exceptionally close to the bone, they are often drowned in his own ranting and raving.

It's a slick movie and the way in which Lazin uses Tupac's interviews really does make you feel as though he was talking from beyond the grave, especially in the opening sequence.

The tricks used to illustrate some of Tupac's writings are often effective if somewhat repetitive and do give the feel that this is a documentary designed for MTV audiences.

And that's exactly the target audience the movie is aiming for – the fans. If you love Tupac, you'll love this film and probably not even notice that he compares his work to Don Mclean's Vincent and Shakespeare when he's 'doing his thing'.

Tellingly, the film reveals that in the short period between his first shooting in a hotel doorway and the day of his death, a clearly stoned and paranoid Tupac spoke of his own inevitable demise.

As it transpired (in the words of another dead musician) just because you're paranoid it don't mean they're not after you.

Tupac himself said in 1994 that he would never self-destruct as Kurt Cobain did, but after seeing and hearing him taunt his enemies, you can't help but feel he simply got someone else to do it for him.

Nidai Esat