Does the world really need another blaxploitation spoof?
After
all, the original 1970s films were often barely above self-parody and
were ideologically suspect even at the time as far as many within the
African-American community were concerned.
Reflecting this
political aspect, many contemporary African-American film-makers have
also had an uneasy relationship with the form, as epitomised by the
debate between Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino over the latter’s
appropriation of blaxploitation and the N-word in Jackie Brown.
And then there are the Wayans Brothers affectionate and intermittently effective parodies I’m Gonna Git You Sucka and Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking your Juice in the Hood, along with Larry Cohen’s Original Gangstas, with its intriguing juxtaposition of 70s heroes and 90s ghetto.
It
is, in total, a challenging arena to seek to make a contribution to.
Happily the team of director Scott Sanders and co-writer/star Michael
Jai White, who had earlier collaborated on the under-rated Thick as Thieves – in which White plays a black drug dealer who aspires to a white country club lifestyle – prove more than up to this challenge.
The key to Black Dynamite’s success is that the film-makers know the difference between a good-bad movie and a bad-bad movie.
They
beautifully bring out all the clichés and weaknesses of the classic
blaxploitation film – dodgy camera work, continuity and process shots;
bad dialogue and even worse delivery; sentimentality; Vietnam
flashbacks; the on-going fight against the man and his evil plans; and
improbably dressed, coiffured and named characters, including the likes
of Cream Corn, Chocolate Giddy Up, and Tasty Freeze.
But they
also know when to get serious, most notably in well-choreographed and
performed martial arts and action scenes that owe more to Enter the Dragon’s Jim Kelly than Rudy Ray Moore’s Dolemite,
along with a truly excellent KPM library and retro style funk
soundtrack that channels the spirits of Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield
and company.
The key difference between White and Kelly is that
he can actually act; that between him and Moore is that his character
and schtick should appeal to just about everyone.
Indeed, the only people I can’t imagine being won over by Black Dynamite are white power types who wouldn’t dream of going to see a black super-cool, super-stud super-hero kicking ass anyways.
A joy from start to finish, Black Dynamite has the potential to do for Blaxploitation what Austin Powers did for the 1960s superspy film.