Black Dynamite

2009 blaxploitation spoof

Rating: 15/20

Plot: The titular tough guy has to avenge his brother's death while ridding his neighborhood of heroin and trying to stop production of a liquor that has devastating effects on black males.

This flick, recommended by my brother and mentioned by Cory a long time ago, could have gone either way. Spoofery, a word that probably isn't a word but should be a word, sometimes leans a little too much on the obvious. Aside from the revealing of the main villain in this--a 1970's villain that will make you think, "Well, of course!"--this doesn't do that, and the comedy works because it's consistently surprising while still an homage and lampooning of 1970's blaxploitation grime. Those of us who have appreciated the genius of Dolemite or something like Trouble Man have a head start with this; in fact, the plot of this thing borrows a lot from the dreadful Disco Godfather. No, there's no "Put some weight on it!" that I remember although this movie does have it's own "Where is Bucky and what has he done?" moment. It's stuffed with references and has that sleazy 70's production that gives it the perfect style. You get incoherent zooms, split screens, boom mikes, continuity errors, senseless action, and the lightning pace you'd expect if you pop in an authentic artifact from the 70's. Great character names, too--Willy Sly, Black Hand Jack, Honey Bee, Chocolate Giddy-Up, Creamed Corn, Bullhorn (a character who rhymes), Mo Bitches, Tasty Freeze (played by Arsenio Hall), Afroditey, Sweet Meat. Michael Jai White, who also co-wrote the screenplay, stars in this, nearly perfectly. He just nails this over-the-top character and displays the action chops necessary, too, including a few scenes with nunchucks (Larry, it just can't be nunchaku here) although Bruce Lee, as far as I can recall, never blinked when he used them. And what a body Michael Jai White has! There's a great introduction to the character, too, as he's first seen having sex with five women. And he gets a bitchin' theme song that you won't be able to get out of your head. Great lines ("Look at this place--you must have an 8-track player in every room." "Doughnuts don't wear alligator shoes." "I used to be an orphan."), a Captain Kangaroo reference that made me laugh, character actor Paul Hayes as a doctor, a pornographic animated sequence, Kung-Fu Island (of course) and the "Fiendish" Dr. Wu, diabolical dick-shrinking mo-fo's. Ahh, it's just so much fun, parody done just right. And did I mention there's a character named Creamed Corn?