Black Dynamite

Black Dynamite - Co-written and directed by Scott Sanders, starring Michael Jai White (also co-writer), Salli Richardson, and Tommy Davidson - Rated R

Eric Harris - www.canneltoncritic.com

Black Dynamite is a movie which fits this blog perfectly. It's a blaxploitation, it's b-movie and it's got a lot of tits in it. But the funny thing is, this movie was made this year and released a while ago, and it's actually a parody and a tribute to the blaxploitation movies of 70's. So what's going on?

Michael Jai White plays Black Dynamite (haha I always appreciate good irony), a former CIA agent who is called back to business when he learns that his brother was killed and the Mafia is flooding black orphanages with a new drug called Smack. This can't be allowed to continue so Black Dynamite hits the streets and declares the war on drugs while also searching for his brother's killers. I won't write the rest but as you have probably guessed it's all a conspiracy by white man to keep the black man down.

Beside M. J. White there is only a couple of more famous actors: Arsenio Hall as Tasty Freeze and Salli Richardson (from Eureka) as Gloria, Dynamite's love interest, if you could say so.

Each of the segments is nothing spectacular but all things combined together make the movie awesome. From the (over)acting, sexual jokes, music(especially the Dynamite theme!), costumes, themes (everyone is, of course, against poor black people) and action, you know you're in for a treat.

There is really nothing else for me to say, other the recommend this movie to everyone, since it's only second to Boss Nigger in my book. I guess the biggest praise I can give it lies in this: if I was ever to make a movie, it would be something like this.

Because this movie is awesome. Can you dig it?

Rating: 10/10

RATED PURE GENIUS

- review by Magnum

***½

An affectionate parody of Blaxploitation films and a fun night out in its own right.

Somehow, I missed "Black Dynamite" when it was in theaters.  Now, finally, thanks to Netflix, I get to see it.  (Can you dig it?)

     "Black Dynamite" is pure spoof.  It parodies the classic Blaxploitation films of the early 1970s, making fun of films like "Shaft," "Dolemite," and many others in the short lived, but prolific, genre, mocking their low budget production values, kung fu prostitutes, and the unending battle against The Man.  Black Dynamite, played by Michael Jai White, is a  former CIA operative and bad ass pimp, who is training his prostitutes in kung fu so they can fight The Man in the coming revolution.  When The Man kills his brother, Black Dynamite comes out of retirement to avenge his brother's death and uncover an evil plot by The Man to destroy the black community.

     ...And that's about as much sense as the plot will ever make.  Most Blaxploitation films have continuity errors and plot holes so big you could drive a mac truck through them, and so does "Black Dynamite," but it's meant to.  Being a genre spoof, there isn't much to say about "Black Dynamite," except that it's an intelligently done spoof of Blaxploitation films that just gets better and funnier the more you know about the genre but is likely to confuse those with no knowledge of Blaxploitation.  Michael Jai White is dead on, and drop dead funny, as stone cold (I am smiling,) yet righteous, cultural warrior, Black Dynamite, fighting in the revolution against The Man.  Numerous other supporting roles, like Arsenio Hall as Tasty Freeze and Tommy Davidson as Cream Corn, are just as funny and accurate to the genre.

     "Black Dynamite" is a must see for anyone who's ever seen a Blaxploitation film.  Can you dig it?


P.S.  If you're looking into the genre for the first time, start with "Shaft" and work your way down.   "Dolemite" is kinda rough, as in, you might not ever try the genre again. 

Brian
Ciné Critique Américain

To make a successful parody a film has to not only embody the essence of the genre it’s satirizing but it also has to embrace the attitude and the cinematic feel of the previous films that have already established that stylistic tone. In Scott Sander’s second film, Black Dynamite, the parody of blacksploitation cinema is so palpably resonant that one cannot deny the amount of time and effort it took to conceive such a complex and comical endeavor. Taking the already comical atmosphere of certain blacksploitation cult classics such as Superfly, The Mack or Shaft, Black Dynamite ignites the screen with pitch perfect satire that is as funny as it is accurate in style and feeling. Never feeling forced the film uses every cinematic element from the cheesy 70s soundtrack to the exaggerations in typical character representations to allow Scott Sander’s to make a great parody standing along side such classics as Airplane or even more modern examples such as Shaun of the Dead. Some people might have a difficult time around the inside jokes’ blatantly referencing the blacksploitation style. However, the film does go beyond the level of pure parody with great comedic performances from the unlikely and surprising cast, including co-screenwriter Michael Jai White. Whether or not you get the joke the film is quite enjoyable, despite some over the top moments, filled with action, comedic delivery, and an extremely witty style.
Black Dynamite opens in typical blacksploitation fashion with a murder and a mystery man. Black Dynamite’s brother is killed for being recognized as a spy because of the unfortunate realization from the rest that he can’t speak jive correctly. Of course, the renowned ex-CIA martial arts ladies man extraordinaire Black Dynamite, played in exquisite physical and comedic fashion by Michael Jai White, will be out for blood but will only “leave a little puddle” if the CIA tells him who did his brother in. But vengeance isn’t Black Dynamite’s only determination because there are drug dealers dealing smack to the kids, in orphanages no less, and it needs to be stopped. Every situation unfolds quite comically as Black Dynamite investigates his brother’s murder leading him to the top, where the ultimate “man” is keeping the brother down. Where the script ultimately succeeds is how writers Scott Sanders, Michael Jai White, and Byron Minns have created a blacksploitation hero that embodies the essence and attitude of the 70s time period. This character in all of his chauvinism and revolutionary mentality is certainly comical but also has a well developed base to mimic the genre’s typical character representation. Without this character that is epic in scope and ridiculous in delivery the film wouldn’t have gotten close to succeeding in its parody. Fortunately for the filmmakers and the audience, Michael Jai White’s persona of Black Dynamite makes the film lively and the script satirically potent. While the final stretch of the films goes beyond ridiculous, and at times a bit confusing, the story remains a great example of how to successfully write satire despite some of it’s overly exaggerated moments.
Immediately the joke in cinematic style should be obvious as the film opens with a blatantly ridiculous 70s style advertisement for Anaconda Malt Liquor, a commercial that hints to the film’s preceding style and tone. While the script has brilliantly laid out the comedic material throughout the film, the technical style certainly accentuates the parody. Cinematographer Shawn Maurer, with great direction from Scott Sanders, weaves in and out of framing as he zooms in for ridiculous close ups or to adjust a shot where the boom pole has comically appeared in the shot. The grainy images and hand held style to capture the kung fu segments are appropriately exaggerated and hysterical in its final product. Even the editor Adrian Younge had a good time piecing together this project, which is obvious in one fight scene where one of the fighters purposefully slaps the other invoking a legitimate “actor” reaction of anger, editing immediately to another cut of them still fighting as if nothing happened. Everything from the 70s costumes to the art direction of the bars and pimp homes invoke a comedic atmosphere successfully bringing the satire of a rare cult cinematic style.
Comedy is especially hard if you don’t have a cast to deliver on the intricately developed character parody. However, Sanders cast the film well with each scene being remarkably comical. Michael Jai White, while physically fit for the kung fu expert, brings a great attitude of personal egoism and confidence while exaggerating fights, in an Enter the Dragon style, as well as personal emotions. The rest of the cast is filled with familiar character actors and notable names, such as Arsenio Hall as a head pimp and drug dealer and Phil Morris in a comically out of place performance as the revolutionary leader. All of the tongue and cheek joke and satirical set ups are handled well by the entire cast not making the film feel forced for parody but rather allowing it to flow at an appropriate and comedic pace.
Modern comedies tend to rely on exaggeration or gross out humor and while Black Dynamite contains some minor elements of those attributes it never uses them outside of their tightly structured frame as a parody. The art direction, costume design, soundtrack, camera use, and editing style all come together to get the feeling of blacksploitation cinema while the actors and director successfully get the essence of the genre, successfully weaving a satire that isn’t forced. Everything flows together nicely and is surprisingly obvious how much effort went into developing this difficult and hysterical script. If you’re not familiar with blacksploitation then the film might not necessarily be your cup of tea, but just because you don’t get the joke doesn’t mean it wasn’t clever to begin with. Anyone intrigued or interested in comedy should take a few notes from Scott Sanders, Michael Jai White, and Byron Minn’s script, which takes an already exploitable genre and delves into it’s more humorous traits.

Black Dynamite has quite a reputation as just about every article or review that mentioned the film gave it high praise. Is it possible for a film to be incredible while paying homage to the films that inspired it? Sure it is. Directors like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez make a living doing just that. With Black Dynamite, however, you may not know what to expect. Expect it to parody the blaxploitation films from the 70s, pay homage to classic kung-fu films, have ridiculous dialogue, a storyline that hilariously doesn't make sense, and have a funky soundtrack with lyrics that are just as awesome as the rest of the film.

Michael Jai White is really the selling point of the film since he is Black Dynamite and you're with him the entire film. I hadn't seen much of White's work before this, but I'm definitely wanting to see more now. His fight scenes are top notch and from what I could tell, it looked like he did the majority of his own stunts. The word I've been hearing is that he's a fairly impressive actor overall, but has just never really picked the right roles and never really broke into the mainstream. Maybe after playing Gambol in The Dark Knight helped him out a bit because he definitely has a bright future as not only an action star, but an actor as well. Other than his superb martial arts work, White's comedic timing is also really important in a film like this and it really pays off. There's a scene where a boom mic is noticeably in the shot while Black Dynamite is giving a big speech. He draws attention to it by repeatedly glaring at the mic throughout the scene, but doesn't miss a beat of the dialogue. Ridiculous scenes like that were crucial in the overall enjoyment factor of the film.

The dialogue is laugh out loud funny at times. There's a scene where the CIA show up at Black Dynamite's house and Agent O'Leary says to Black Dynamite, "We heard about your brother's death and we don't want you running around turning the streets into rivers of blood." Black Dynamite responds with, "Then tell me who did it and I'll just leave a puddle." The storyline is just as absurd, as well. Other than the film missing scenes that were shown in the trailer and things not fully being resolved with Vincent "The Don" Rafelli, the scene where Black Dynamite and his crew figure out what Anaconda malt liquor's true purpose is is both hilariously long-winded and confusing.

Black Dynamite may not be for everyone, but it will be hilariously awesome for most who actually get to see it. The film somehow manages to blend comedy as absurd and ridiculous as films like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy or Zoolander and have hard hitting action scenes that are noticeably a tribute to classic Bruce Lee films. This blaxploitation parody comes highly recommended, can you dig it?

Vincent Snavely

Shut you mouth jive turkey! Yep, you guessed it Black Dynamite is a blaxploitation picture, but, the catch is that it was done in modern times. In a manner similar to Quentin Tarntino’s Grindhouse films, as well as the upcoming Machete, this picture uses a lot of techniques and equipment long forgotten, such as no electronic instruments in the score.
Aside from making this actually look like it was filmed in the 70s, the filmmakers decided to do some spoofing of the genre. For instance, there is a scene where Black dynamite is talking and a boom mic comes down in the scene, in another one of the actors is reciting his lines, but includes the stage directions. Little things like this make this so much more the enjoyable film.
Look, this film was never meant to win anyone any awards for acting, so if you were expecting to see something on the level of a Meryl Streep performance, you’ll be  sadly mistaken. Having said that, though, the actors really get into their roles. I always find it refreshing to watch a film where it looks like they are having fun rather than just showing up for a paycheck. Sure the lines are cheesy, but this is set in the 70s and is also a spoof, so that’s to be expected. What impresses me is that they make it look like they were actually trying to make a serious film, when they all knew this was supposed to be nothing more than a spoof.
In the titular role, Michael Jai White has found a role that he can really sink his teeth into. He channels all the black heroes from the 70s and adds a bit of hisself into Black Dynamite and it works. I have to say, though, this guy is built like a truck. If they ever go through with Black Panther or Luke Cage films, he should be high up on the list. They wouldn’t have to build in any muscle if they do so.
Behind every great man, there has to be a great woman. In Black Dynamite’s case, there is Gloria, played by Salli Richardson. Look, I’m not gonna lie to you, she underwhelmed me with her performance. I don’t know, maybe I’ve seen to many Pam Grier blaxploitation flicks, but it seemed like she was trying to be her, and failing. Such a shame since she seems to be a very competent actress. I just wish she would have brought something a bit more original to the character, rather than just being a Grier clone.
The supporting cast is great, especially Tommy Davidson as Cream Corn. Yes, I said Cream Corn. Also, look for Arsenio Hall and Brian McKnight in the pimp meeting, as well as Nicole Sullivan in the film’s final scene, as Patricia Nixon.
The action is what you would expect from this type of flick..stylized, choreographed, and a bit cheesy. Of course, if it were any other way, it wouldn’t work as well.
As far as the plot goes…well, there are holes big enough to push a planet through, but if you’ve ever watched a blaxploitation film, you’ll know that they have the same issues, so I’ll chalk that up to capturing the true essence of the genre. I could have done with a little better pacing, especially at the beginning, though, but again, that is more to do with capturing the genre’s essence, as most, if not all, blaxploitation films seem to take forever to get going.
I don’t have much to say against this film. They did say that this was hilarious, though. Granted, there were some moments, but they were subtle. I realize this wasn’t meant to be a comedy, but I just think they could have played up those moments a bit more. Also, it would have been cool to maybe see scene that disappeared or is reversed because of the old camera, or perhaps that old popping sound, since this is supposed ot be filmed during the 70s.
Black Dynamite was only released to limited theaters. As a matter of fact, if not for reading about this on a movie blog when it was released, I wouldn’t have known about it. Hopefully, though, it will gain a cult, underground following, and maybe spur on a franchise. This not a character that needs to be one and done. This is not a film that needs to be sitting on the shelves collecting dust. It is too good. Not in terms of actual filmmaking, bu rather in terms of paying homage to the time period and capturing the techniques and such from that era.
This is not a film for everyone, though. I’m sure that someone out there will go out of their way to scream that it is racist, when it is no more racist than any other film that makes fun of racial differences and whatnot. Anyone that believes such things must not have a mind of their own, and as for those that start such things, they must have some extremely fruitless lives to come up with such incredible slander.
Now that I’ve got that off my chest…should you see this picture? My answer is an emphatic yes. There’s action, comedy, a bit of romance…something for everyone. How can you not like this?

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Last updated: 2010-04-05 13:39:09 by MysteryMan