Let me start off with a simple statement about this movie. I loved it! The thing is you can’t just rely on three simple words to convey how much or explain why.
The brainchild of star/writer Michael Jai White, BLACK DYNAMITE is not only the title of the film but the name of its main character. Composed of nearly every hero found in the classic black exploitation (or blaxploitation) films of the seventies, Black Dynamite is a man who beds every woman he meets and beats down any man bold enough to get in his way. The film is a tribute to those films as well as a parody of them and ranks with the best Mel Brooks had to offer in his tributes to his favorite genres.
The story opens with a mysterious shadowed figure ordering the death of a traitor to his organization of dope dealing members of the black community. The bad news is that this man was also the brother of Black Dynamite.
When word reaches Black Dynamite...let’s just call him BD…he rages. BD returns home for his brother’s funeral only to be chastised by his aunt for letting his brother become involved in drug trafficking. After all, he had promised his mother that he would look out for his brother.
Before he can take to the streets to clean them up for good, BD’s old GI buddy and former CIA member arrives at his house to let him in on what’s going on. It is at this time that he asks BD to stand aside and not make the streets run red with blood in his attempt to get to who killed his brother. Like that’s gonna happen.
With the help of club owner and best friend Bullhorn (Byron Minns in a perfect tribute to blaxploitation star Rudy Ray Moore) BD is led to another character from the neighborhood, Cream Corn (Tommy Davidson). Corn tells him he can get answers at the pool hall run by Chicago Wind. What BD finds is Corn sold him out and a group of thugs waiting to beat him down. Too bad they don’t realize who their dealing with as BD uses his kung fu skills to take on the whole group.
Clue after clue leads BD to the main man responsible for the death of his brother. And by the end of the film he finds himself on Kung Fu Island facing off against that main man who is behind an evil conspiracy that will affect every black man on the planet.
But there’s more. Not only does BD come across gangsters trying to ruin the world, he meets a young militant woman named Gloria (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) who is trying to get rid of corrupt politicians. Gloria also works at the local orphanage where children are being hooked on smack, something BD doesn’t take kindly to. His feelings on the matter make for another hilarious scene.
The plot seems simple, right? Well in fact it is. But it’s not the plot that makes this film as wonderful as it is. Many of those classic films also had simple plots and plenty of action sequences puffed up with filler to make the movie longer. In fact that is part of the humor found in this film. Ideas and portions of all of those old films are put to use in the plot here. Drugs, dead family, trying to save the neighborhood, girls both good and bad, conspiracies, all of these were used at one time or another and here all of them are tied together.
It’s not the story that makes this movie so great. It’s the loving care it takes to make it appear as if it was made during the heyday of the genre. The film stock used (watch the extras where this is even discussed), the sound equipment, the production design, the clothing, all make you think you’re watching a film made in the seventies. And the job these film makers do is fantastic.
And then there are the mistakes. Not real ones but intentional ones. To tell you all would be to spoil the laughs you’d get while watching. So here is one, a blatant one. While a scene involving BD is going on, the boom mike dips down into the shot. Not only that but you can hear it as it bumps into his afro while he glances up to see it there, waiting for the director to yell cut and start the scene over. But when these films were originally made, budgets were so tight that many times directors just kept rolling and included the scenes, messed up or not.
There is so much to see here and enjoy that in describing each one it would take away what the viewer would get out of it. Most of the seriously funny portions are discussed in the extras where White and crew talk about their love for the originals as well as where they got their ideas for this film.
As with the films of Mel Brooks, there are so many things you want to talk about when describing it but at the same time want others to enjoy; proof of this lies when I recall seeing BLAZING SADDLES for the first time. Everyone had told me about Alex Karras punching out a horse and how funny it was. By the time I saw it, there was no humor to the scene. Just know that BLACK DYNAMITE is a film that requires you to pay attention to get all the jokes. It also helps to have an appreciation for the original films in the genre.
Michael Jai White does a tremendous job here. Having mostly played action roles that use more of his physical presence than acting abilities, he displays a great sense of humor here in his portrayal. This may sound strange but to act is one thing, but to try and act poorly is not an easy task. White does it to perfection here leaving the viewer to wonder how it was he was able to not fall apart laughing while making the film.
In watching this film I found myself laughing out loud at parts and chuckling at others. And while I watched, I knew that when I would watch it a second or third time I would find more to laugh at while enjoying the things I found funny the first time around to still be funny. This movie may not have opened wide or been given a fair shot at the theater but it is sure to find a following on DVD. And with any luck it may even give a boost in sales to the originals that inspired it. In any event, this one is a movie not only to be watched but to add to the collection of those who love comedy. And we can only hope for a sequel.
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