Review of Black Dynamite (2009) by Shane S — 14 Aug 2011

One of the more clever spoof films (to be fair, the only clever spoof film) to be recently released in an era of romantic comedies and box-office poison epics that deserve to be lampooned correctly, Scott Sanders' "Black Dynamite," based off of a fake trailer starring action star Michael Jai White, goes back about forty years and not only creates its world so effectively, it gives off the impression that you're actually watching quite possibly the greatest blaxploitation film ever created. All that kung fu action, all those familiar faces (Bubba Blue plays a drug dealer and Arsenio Hall plays a pimp), all those little mistakes that make people like me treasure the film a lot more than those who watch it just to see Spawn beat up every stereotype known to man - there is a reason why this film is much more successful than the admittedly classic "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun.".

It could be that this film actually takes itself seriously while being aware that it's exploiting a really tainted genre in the first place or it could be that this film feels more authentic than most spoof comedies of the past ten years, but "Black Dynamite" is a winner.

Recommend it? Yeah, I recommend it. Kids might not get it, but why would kids want to see this? When I was their age, I didn't understand the MADtv "Dolomite" sketches and why they were so hilarious. So, who do I recommend it to? People who know about blaxploitation. Love or hate the genre, this film not only serves as a parody of movies like "Super Fly" and "Dolemite," it serves as a really strange love letter to them. And cartoons. And those Colt 45 commercials Lando Calrissian made a long time ago.