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Black Dynamite (2009) The Playas: Michael Jai White as "Black Dynamite" Tommy Davidson as "Cream Corn" Byron Minns as "Bullhorn" Salli Richardson-Whitfield as "Gloria" Directed by Scott Sanders Written by White, Minns, and Sanders Edited and Music by Adrian Younge IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190536/ Triler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-wqmnJrOFM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-wqmnJrOFM In 2007, Tarantino and Rodgriguez put together a double feature called Grindhouse which recalled an era gone by where exploitation movies were made for a quick buck when the movie industry was not doing so well. While the movie was critically acclaimed, the movie was such a box office failure that it almost put an end to the movie studio that produced it. As such, it would seem that this era of films had been long forgotten, and nobody cared to see another grindhouse movie again. Surely, it would be a bad idea to tempt fate twice. Yet, despite that, along comes a movie to take Sundance by storm. That movie is Black Dynamite, the brainchild of Michael Jai White, and directed by Scott Sanders. You would think that after the financial failure of Grindhouse, attacting money to make this movie would be hard, yet after cutting together an awesome trailer, they were able to sell the picture to Sony Entertainment. The orginal trailer can be seen here, and it is almost as good as the movie itself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXBIqdOv_9A Unfortunately , the final movie was in such limited release that few people have ever been able to catch this movie in the theater, and have had to either get it by other means or wait for the DVD. I'm a big fan of the genre, so I waited patiently for the DVD to come out so I can show my support for this type of film. But was the movie worth waiting for? I'm happy to say that is was. There have been a lot of spoofs and satires in the past, but the thing about this movie is, it has layers that you don't normally see in a film of this type. Not satisfied with just being a blaxploitation satire, each of the people involved in making the movie are playing a role of characters from the blaxploitation movie era both on camera, and behind the cameras as well. For example, Michael Jai White doesn't play Black Dynamite, he plays Forante Jones, a pro football star turned actor in order to help promote this movie as the main character. Forante Jones is used to the spotlight, and barely manages to veil his irritation at the amateur efforts of the behind the scenes crew, such in the scene wher he gets hit in the head with the boom mic, and glares at it like he's ready to kill.  Every once in a while, Forante loses his cool, and slips a little bit out of character, ripping someone a new one for seemingly no good reason. Clearly there is drama off-screen, as well. Forante really wants to be a good actor, though, punctuating his dramatic scenes with a look off into the distance. Everyone else keeps trying to figure out what he might be looking at, though.  White isn't the only one in on the fun. Chris Spencer plays an actor playing the character "Militant #1" who is not too bright, and can't figure where the lines of the script end, and where the stage direction begins, so he just reads everything out loud, such as "Stands up and turns around!" and hopes nobody will notice. When asked who's in charge, he responds with the line destined to become a classic, "Sarcastically, I am!". Even the director Scott Sanders has his character to play, playing the second rate grindhouse era filmmaker who can't figure out how to frame a shot on occasion, like this scene:  Grandma's really short, so should he frame her, or the hero of the movie? Dilemma ensues. Not only that, he's dealing with drama on the set when Bullhorn accidently punches an extra, who falls out of character and Bullhorn then ends up looking like he's going to apologize on film.  There's a bad splice, and then the scene resumes but the extra is replaced by an entirely different actor when the extra presumably quit.  As the "filmmaker" struggles on with a shoestring budget, in typical grindhouse fashion he reuses the same car explosion scene to cut down on costs. Here we are at 24 minutes into the film:  And then at the 46 min. mark, deja vu:  It's clear that a lot of thought went into this movie, and also a lot of fun was had, as well. There is a respect for the audience that is rare these days in the fact that all of the dots don't need to be connected for you, and things are left unexplained because it's assumed they don't need it. Michael Bay could learn something from this film. The continuity is purposely skewed (guys fly out windows and appear back in fight immediately) in the same vein as you would expect from the genre. Some of the double talking dialog is so purposely bad, it just makes you laugh, but then is followed up by a line that will go down in cinematic history some day. The scene where the phone rings and Black Dynamite says "Who the hell is interrupting may Kung-Fu?" is going to be my ringtone forever. The movie is infinitely quotable, and is destined to be the midnight movie at some campus, if it isn't already. Even though the movie is satirical in nature, it is done is a respectful fashion, and some scenes are taken directly out of movies from the same genre, such as the scene where Black Dynamite yells at little Jimmy for saying he wants to be just like Black Dynamite when he grows up. It's a scene shamelessly lifted almost word for word from "The Mack", and it's hilarious. The movie goes down the list checking off all of the key elements of blaxploitation movies, covering them all. The only element in the movie that is questionable at all may be White's martial arts capability, which is far too good for this movie, but I can live with that. FINAL SCORE 
Yabanjin fucked around with this message at 09:35 on Mar 13, 2010 |
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Mar 13, 2010 03:59
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It already feels like a classic. Heaps of creativity and talent went into this project, resulting in layers of entertainment. You can watch it for the performances alone, and it will keep your attention on that level. If that doesn't do enough for you, watch Black Dynamite decimate his opponents in what is essentially a mashup of 70s blaxploitation, kung fu, and crime flicks. Still not enough? Bask in the original soundtrack as it guides you through the story. The Hangover made some people very rich, but this movie buries it as the best comedy of 2009. Bonus points for the existence of a leaked version that manages to be longer, a bit slower in pace, yet ultimately superior. Buy the BD or DVD, but be sure to check out the alternate cut if you get the chance. Any way you watch it, it works. 5.5/5
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Mar 13, 2010 10:37
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Easily one of my favorite movies of all time, and easily one of the best comedies in cinematic history. 5.5/5
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Mar 14, 2010 21:21
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It's been a while since I've seen a really solidly funny movie. This one keeps the laughs coming and works perfectly as an homage of its source material. 5.5/5
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Mar 18, 2010 02:43
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Yabanjin posted:At the risk of making this a really low-content review, I agree 100%. This really is a spot-on description of the movie. I can't remember the last time I saw a comedy that was layered with so many different kinds of entertainment value. It has the good elements that made blaxploitation movies popular in the first place, and all their shabby/dated/retarded elements that makes them unintentionally funny now, and outright silly gags of its own, and genuinely good action whenever White beats the crap out of people. Then it just keeps escalating the silliness until it reaches the breaking point (meaning: awesome) at the end. If anything it almost plays things too straight in the first half of the movie; it looks and sounds so authentic that it's not clear when they're joking. Of course, not telegraphing the jokes is generally a good thing so I'm not complaining. Yabanjin posted:As the "filmmaker" struggles on with a shoestring budget, in typical grindhouse fashion he reuses the same car explosion scene to cut down on costs. The beauty of that is that the same stock footage is used for a sedan going off a cliff and a red sports car. And the car explodes in mid-air before it even hits anything.  5/5 for me. It isn't the funniest first watch I've seen but it's the gift that keeps on giving on repeated viewings. sean10mm fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Mar 23, 2010 |
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Mar 23, 2010 13:53
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I just finished watching this movie and I enjoyed it. The first comment I have to make about this film is that I am impressed at how well the thing was done, as a whole. This isn't an easy movie to pull off. It is a tremendous challenge to succesfully do an homage to a totally defunct genre of film and satirize it at the same time. It works because the objective of Black Dynamite and the objective of exploitation films from the 70's is congruent; that is to entertain everybody who watches it. The plot is is oversimplified and spelled out for your in a single scene, which one could argue is the single most annoying aspect of popular films, but it is done jest here and it works as a good gag. The characters are the same played out stereotypes that we are sick of, but this time acknowledgement of their existence as a worn out stereotype is given a nod and everybody can just laugh about it for what it is. I liked this movie. It kind of reminded me that in a time where CGI bloated monstrosities rule the box office that there was a simpler age where B grade schlock kept us laughing with one liners, cheesy action scenes and nice tits. For 2 dollars a double feature no less. And believe you me, they didn't have to sit through car commercials before the feature. 4/5
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Mar 27, 2010 09:11
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I was really surprised by how much this actually reminded me of 70s exploitation films, and didn't just look like a parody of them. So many funny gags in this, and even all of the fake continuity errors and line flubs seem 100% genuine. Very well done homage/spoof. The scene where they figure out "whodunnit" the absolute most convoluted way possible had me in stitches. I haven't laughed so much at a movie in a long time. 5/5
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Apr 16, 2010 12:43
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It was very funny, and fun to watch. The gags usually hit hard. The pace is slow. If you've seen any parody movie, you've probably seen lots of the gags before, and a lot of the humor will make you feel stupid, but it still gave me big laughs, so I call it a guilty pleasure. 4/5-- I'd recommend it if you like comedy movies with an artsy mindset, like Troma movies or Be Kind Rewind. eminkey2003 fucked around with this message at 05:09 on Jun 7, 2010 |
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Jun 7, 2010 05:05
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This isn't just a gag reel, it actually comes across as a complete Blaxloitation film in its own right, that just so happens to do a lot of parody along the way. I laughed so much at this movie, that I had to hit STOP and take a break before I injured myself. 5/5. One correction: Bullhorn accidentally slaps his opponent in the middle of his fight, which better explains why there's a need to stop filming and get a repalcement. *slap* "Mutha-" *boop*
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Aug 16, 2010 20:55
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Caught this on some On-Demand channel and knew nothing about it. I laughed harder at this movie than any other I can remember. 5/5
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Aug 23, 2010 18:45
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Saw this last night. Very funny, though had I not known the backstory before watching it I wouldn't have found it as entertaining. It never once mentions that it is a movie about a movie. 4.5/5 for a comedy
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Aug 30, 2010 17:30
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This is the best party movie in a long time. I think I've watched it 5 times in the last month since getting it. The satire is brilliant. Thank you black dynamite. I want to thank you for taking care of us girls. 5/5 Nibbler fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Sep 11, 2010 |
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Sep 11, 2010 09:11
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