Tribeca Review: ‘Black Dynamite’

Scott saw this film at Sundance and told me that I had to see it at Tribeca. I took his advice and I am so glad I did. Black Dynamite is a fantastic spoof of Blaxploitation films while still being completely original and fresh. The storyline, themes and characters do not seem to come from any specific films but are instead an amalgamation of the entire genre. I have not seen many Blaxploitation movies; however, I still loved Black Dynamite.

There is a huge array of comedy styles found in the film. The humor comes from deadpan deliveries, physical comedy, brilliant satire, over the top violence, sex jokes, dark comedy, sight gags and some completely random one-liners. There is even one insane gross-out gag that had the crowd of critics screaming with laughter. This film is also instantly quotable with so many great lines. My favorite in the film is “I am smiling† but you will have to see the flick to get it.

The film has the gritty 70’s vibe nailed perfectly. The acting is fantastic across the board. Michael Jai White is the ultimate 70’s Badass MuthaF*cka. The music is also perfect, especially the songs created for the film that reflect the events taking place in the scene. I am also really glad that while the film perfectly captures the 70’s feel, Scott Sanders never forgot he was making a film for a 2009 audience. (Well 2007, when the film was made but you get the point).

The biggest problem I had with Tarantino’s Death Proof is that it was a mimic of 70’s B-movies, which meant few scenes of action and mostly scenes of pointless dialogue to stretch the running time. Unlike what Tarantino did, Scott Sanders instead takes the style of Blaxploitation movies but always keeps the modern audience in mind. A fast pace is set where little time is wasted because moments of incident occur every few minutes. There is actually enough action in Black Dynamite to fill at least 3 seventies action movies. The film also has some completely random, and hilarious, set-pieces that have little to do with plot but still work perfectly in the film.

Overall, Black Dynamite is an incredibly fun movie and one that I hope gets a sequel. While talking with Scott Sanders, he mentioned they have an idea for a prequel that sounds fantastic so hopefully this movie does as well at the box office as it deserves to.

5 out of 5 Bottles of Anaconda Malt Liquor

Jerry Cavallaro – www.AreYouStuckLikeChuck.com