Review of Black Dynamite (2009) by Jacob O — 15 Feb 2011

Michael Jai White is Black Dynamite, the greatest African-American action star of the 1970s. His super-cool Kung Fu and no-nonsense style is put to use when a "jive-ass sucka", named "The Man", kills his brother and pumps heroin into local orphanages.

So, a spoof of Blaxploitation films, a "sub-genre" which emerged in the 1970s as black actors began to take leading roles? They must have been out of their minds. Yet, strangely, it works. This is easily the best American-made spoof in years, purely down its detailed expertise on the subject it pokes fun at. And it's all dead accurate - from the boom mic creeping in at the top of the frame; to the badly shot but absurdly hilarious action sequences; to the nonsensical subplots and stereotyped characters; it's all part of a collection of films which completely lacked technical expertise and any kind of story.

But even for those who aren't knowledgeable of films like "Shaft" and "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song", it's still hysterically funny. The characters are brilliant parodies of themselves and the dialogue is wonderfully irreverent. As Black Dynamite puts it, "Your knowledge of scientific biological transmogrification is only outmatched by your zest for kung-fu treachery!".

A film that must be seen by all.