"Black Dynamite"
by: Paolo Sardinas

The thing that makes the blaxploitation films of the 70's so damn entertaining is that, amidst the whole outrageousness and craziness of them, they always managed to never take themselves to seriously. Granted most of these movies focused more on the entertainment value rather than Oscar winning performances, they always kept their promise to deliver a fun and "groovy" night at the movies. 30 years later and we get nothing even close to the magic that these films created. Until now.

"Black Dynamite" is a fun and rather exciting homage to the blaxploitation films of the 70's. It also manages to offer some new things. The story is based in the year 1972 the story follows ex CIA agent "Black Dynamite". He gets called back into duty as the Italian mob kills his brother and black orphanages is being filled with heroine. The story is a typical 70's film, the superhero that makes love to six different women at once while using some kung fu skills to beat the hell out of drug dealers. But rather than just coping those original ideas, it manages to give it its own little creative twist to it. The whole story unfolds into a full fledged conspiracy theory and climaxes with a very entertaining nun chuck battle. It manages to combine story elements from all sorts of different films. It has a little bit of the kung fu, a bit of comedy, and lots and lots of style.

Michael Jai White stars as the main protagonist and manages to pull off a fairly interesting character. While it doesn't require much acting skills, he's able to make this "bad-ass" cop seem more like an anti hero rather than an officer of the law. The type of person you wouldn't mind having a beer with just as long as you don't piss him off and don't call shotgun. He is a basically a remake of Shaft. In fact if you didn't know any better you would assume they were brothers. Especially with their whole funky/groove thing going on amongst themselves. The rest of the cat is fairly unknown except for a handful of porn stars that star as his "Ladies of Leisure".

Besides the fact that its one big genre parody, it still manage to be its own film and succeeds in creating the mood and feel of an old 70's viewing experience. No matter how absurd it may be. The attention to detail and the appreciation for it seems almost a little to perfect at times, but at least it doesn't force it down your throat. Instead it patiently awaits you to come to your senses and realize that this is one stupid movie. But you still can't take your eyes off of the searing colors, women, grooviness of this day and age.

Now back to the genre blending, at time it feels more like a mix of Austin Powers and Shaft, but at other times it feels like something ripped right out of the mind of Tarantino. Something which manages to sustain all of the visual aesthetics while still creating something new, fresh, and real. Scott Sanders directs with a real sharp precision which never lets you forget just where it came from. His attentiveness takes you on a spiraling voyage back to the good ol days. The costumes and the color technique(nice little look of an old 70's porn flick) take you back to days of 'froes and hoes. The days which, unlike myself, you were able to love, ravish, and live in. No matter how screwed up they were.

All though by the time we get to that eventual climax between Dynamite and Tripy Dick you feel like the writers have outdone themselves a little bit and have offered us a little bit more than what he originally asked for. While this isnt necessarily a bad thing, iits always a gamble whe you don't know how the audience will react. Luckily the reaction isn't too bad but you still get that "this is kinda stupid feeling" after watching.

While it's not 100% perfect, it is about 90% there. "Black Dynamite" does manage to offer a fairly new and fun viewing experience. And even though it misses some of its intended comedic marks it still does offer some good old fashion 70's mayhem. While, just like its ancestors, it never taking itself too seriously, no matter how heated things get. Its main sense of "how funny can we make this without making it totally stupid and absurd" does manage to pay off. Despite the fact that it does appeal more to fans of the spoof genre, it still has plenty more to offer. You just, for once, have to actually think about it. Grade: A-

Rated R for sexuality/nudity, language, some violence and drug content.