Dir: Scott Sanders
Sony DVD
The spoof/parody film is a tricky one. More often than not, I am less than enthused by the final product. It takes a real love for what you're spoofing mixed with genuine comedy skills to pull it off and I feel that comedy in itself is one of the most difficult things to pull of anyway. Therefore, I go in to situations like Black Dynamite, which pokes fun at the "Blaxploitation" films of the seventies, with low expectations. So I was happily surprised that those expectations were not only met, but far exceeded. It stars Michael Jai White (who also serves as co-writer) as Black Dynamite, a Vietnam vet, ex-CIA agent bad-ass, that decides to clean up the streets after his brother is killed and uncovers a national conspiracy, led by the ultimate seventies villain. He puts together a team of stereotypes, that includes Arsenio Hall and Tommy Davidson, and takes on the man. What makes the film work is the the approach. The cast takes on the material with a straight face which always plays better than shtick. In fact the comedy leans more towards something like "Garth Marenghi's Darkplace" than I'm Gonna Get You Sucka. It's also evident that there is a real love for the films that are being parodied as there are direct lines of dialog said verbatim from some seventies classics. The second act might be a tad too long but the final act makes up for it. The DVD has commentary and a look at the Comic Con panel moderated by Elvis Mitchell.
7/10
"I threw that shit before I came in the room."
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