Black Dynamite (2009/Sony DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: C+
When you
do a spoof, you can play it straight or just be silly about it. When it comes to the Blaxploitation cycle of
the 1970s, it can be trickier. Back in
1988, Keenan Ivory Wayans made I’m Gonna
Git You Sucka (aka I’mo Get You
Sucka) and it was a sort of celebratory fest of the cycle with plenty of
cameos and the usual formula story of the tough hero (nearly anti-hero) of the
older brother coming back to avenger the death of the younger brother who dies
on drugs. Of course, this set up never
blames the old brother for leaving the neighborhood to begin with, but that’s
another story. Scott Sanders’ Black Dynamite (2009) plays the formula
(the younger brother is shot to death here) straight and the results are more
successful.
So
successful in fact that it can have the same lag as any other exploitation
film, old or new, but this film foregoes the referential cameos for the most
part. Instead, Michael Jai White (Blood & Bone, The Dark Knight) is the title character, actually looking like one
of the heroes of Blaxploitation (versus Wayans, who was even a few generations
away from Carl Weathers’ Action Jackson,
also 1988) making some of the jokes here more pointed than anything Wayans’
film could hope for.
Saunder,
White and Byron Minns co-wrote the amusing screenplay that takes into
consideration that there is a familiarity with the cycle, especially in an era
of much more home video than you had in 1988 and that Hip Hop had effectively
revived interest in these films (as much as any filmmaker had) so it was not
the lost cycle it had been when Wayans had made his film. Part of the problem with Wayans film is that
it was his version of Blaxploitation and not all of it. Black
Dynamite does not have that limit.
Tommy Davidson and Arsenio Hall also star in a film we can definite
recommend, as long as you know it is still what it is.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is good, but sometimes wants to look bad, while other
times, this is just a little softer than it should be for a new production,
homage intents or not. The Blu-ray
reportedly looks better. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix purposely mixes monophonic and location-type sounds to imitate
the low-budget monophonic sound of 1970s independent films, but surrounds do
kick in along with amusing sound effects and some of the music. Still, sound can be towards the screen more
than you might expect. Extras include a
feature-length Filmmaker/Cast audio commentary tracks, Deleted & Alternate
Scenes, a making of featurette and Comic Con launch featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
