Film Review – I Am Paul Walker (2018)

I Am is a series on the Paramount Network that documents the life of a celebrity who have passed away. The network have done projects that showcased the likes of Bruce Lee, Steve McQueen, Chris Farley, and Heath Ledger, and that’s just to name a few. They have a library of documentaries you can check out on their website.

On Saturday, August 11th, the network premiered the newest episode in the series. A look back at the life of Paul Walker.

The following review will be spoiler free.

Synopsis

Directed by: Adrian Buitenhuis

Including: Tyrese Gibson, Cody Walker, Rob Cohen, Caleb Walker, Erik MacArthur, Oakley Lehman, Paul Walker III, Matt Luber, Ashlie Walker, Sean Lee, Rhett Walker, and David Marquez

Paul Walker’s family and friends share a look back at the action movie star’s life. From his childhood fame to his success in The Fast and the Furious franchise. There’s video footage that help capture Walker’s life from a child to an adult.

Background

Paul Walker started out as a child actor, appearing in dog food commercials and on the NBC drama series, Highway to Heaven. He would earn his first lead role in Meet the Deedles and go on to earn roles in Pleasantville, Varsity Blues, and The Skulls.

After supporting roles and the lead role in The Skulls, Paul would collaborate again with Rob Cohen for the movie that made him a household name, The Fast and the Furious.

The documentary goes through his early life quite quickly, as it focuses on his life after the first Fast film.

Image via Business Insider

Captures Paul Walker’s Life Well

The documentary does a good job getting the viewer to know Paul. It touches on how Paul was caring, creating his very own organization to help the victims in the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010.

Paul Walker did a lot of things off camera. He was always loving and caring for his family. He was always the big kid. This documentary paints the picture well, giving Paul a better image as a person.

Image via YouTube

Growth as an Actor

A little thing that the documentary shows is Paul Walker growing as actor as he got older. As the teenager he was, he played the likes of one in his early projects. After the role in The Skulls, he adapted his skills away from the teenager roles. He would aim for roles that were serious and gave him adrenaline.

Taking the roles where he had to become more serious, it helped him become more dynamic. There was more to his emotions, more to his delivery, it worked out for the best. The documentary touches this idea very well, showing clips on how he changed in every role.

Image via E! News

Get the Box of Tissues

As the documentary is a look back at the actor’s life, tears will fall. Aside from tears of sorrow, there’s tears of joy to be had as well. Paul Walker lived a wonderful life. He was always smiling and gave such a positive vibe to anyone he talked to.

Good friend Tyrese Gibson shared just how great Paul was. Tyrese goes into detail of how Paul was never intimidating, he was always approachable. Paul’s younger brother, Cody, too, shared stories on how much of a big brother Paul was and how he loved him and loved to play with him.

The only thing that was missing was Vin Diesel. Had the documentary got stories from Vin Diesel about how Paul was like a brother to him, it would have been a lot more emotional. Vin and Paul appeared to have great chemistry on and off the set of the Fast & Furious films, with Vin sharing stories, it doesn’t feel right.

Image via Billboard

Not Much to Learn More About Paul Walker

I Am Paul Walker is a bit short for what a documentary might be. What could have been shown more were his roles after Fast & Furious, his time on the set of those films, interviews from more actors, etc. The fact that the documentary comes from a cable network, it seems they could not include that much content.

Had the documentary gave more weight to Paul Walker’s legacy, have more emotional moments, have more actor and their stories with Paul, and shown footage of him filming the last few Fast & Furious films, it would have made for a better documentary.

Final Thoughts

It’s able to show he was caring and someone to always be around with. It just needed more looks of him in his other films — how he was on set — stories from other cast members of the Fast & Furious films, etc. In this case, more is better!

Grade: B

Image via The Wrap

Thank you for reading! What are you thoughts on I Am Paul Walker? What’s you’re favorite Paul Walker role? Comment down below!

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