Editor’s Note: This film review was originally written and published back in 2010.
There aren’t many movies like Black Dynamite that come along. The new film is the first for production company Ars Nova, and the second for director Scott Sanders. Starring Michael Jai White, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Tommy Davidson and Mykelti Williamson, it also features a cameo by Arsenio Hall as a pimp.
Black Dynamite is a blaxploitation satire film, and as such it’s the third in an interesting evolution. The official “blaxploitation” period of film (see my article “Revisiting Blaxploitation”) lasted from 1971 through about 1975. The first satire came from the Wayans Brothers in 1988. While I’m Gonna Git You Sucka borrowed some character stereotypes from the era (the strong black hero, the ghetto pimp), these characters were mockeries of their original versions, and the film was set in the year in which it was made. Fourteen years later, Undercover Brother created a much more authentic blaxploitation hero, but brought him forward in time, a la Austin Powers or The Brady Bunch Movie, and bought some of its laughs with “fish-out-of-water” gags.
All of this effort to create a virtual blaxploitation kingdom would be worthless if not for the power of the king. Michael Jai White brings Black Dynamite to life with extraordinary commitment. Best remembered for roles as Mike Tyson and the comic book anti-hero Spawn in mid-90′s movies, White is a natural for this role. With a ripped physique, six black belts and a sweet afro wig, White certainly looks the part of the blaxploitation hero. At times, his performance channels legends Fred “The Hammer” Williamson (read my interview with him) and Jim Kelly, while other actors conjure the late Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite) and Antonio Fargas. But Black Dynamite is an inherently flawed hero. He is prone to wild emotional outbursts – one of which provides one of the best laughs in the film, as he grabs a young boy on heroin and screams, “I’m a shake this smack outta ya if I have to!”. At another point, a woman interrupts his monologue, and he launches into a screaming tirade that sends her running from the room in tears.
Some gags are over the top, a la Sucka and Undercover Brother, while a few (Captain Kangaroo Pimp?) are just absurd. But all of them manage to generate laughs easily. Black Dynamite comes across like a blaxploitation homage to Ed Wood – it’s pretending to be a lost print of the worst blaxploitation movie made, whose original creators in 1973 thought it was going to be the greatest film ever. An interesting creative challenge that this team accomplishes expertly. Black Dynamite is a rich absurdist comedy with plenty of funk that will make you laugh your ass off for 90 minutes and then hunt down a copy of Avenging Disco Godfather.
