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| This movie is ridiculous, in a good way! |
Black Dynamite is an American action comedy movie released in 2009. It is a parody of the blaxploitation films of the 1970's. Black Dynamite stars Michael Jai White, Salli Elise Richardson-Whitfield, Tommy Davidson, Kym Whitley, and Kevin Chapman among many other amazing African American actors. Scott Sanders wrote (along with Michael Jai White and Byron Minns) and directed the movie, while Ron Yuan is the action director.
Michael Jai White plays Black Dynamite, a strong, proud black man who is a former CIA agent and a Vietnam War veteran. Dynamite's younger brother gets killed by a mysterious organization at the start of the movie. Black Dynamite finds out and vows to avenge his death. Black Dynamite's former CIA partner, O'Leary (played by Chapman) reinstates Dynamite into the CIA to avoid him leaving the streets soaked in blood. As Dynamite investigates his brother's murder, he teams up with his friends and militant Black power activists to clean up the streets, as heroin has become a problem in the city. This all leads to Black Dynamite and crew figuring out what the real plan of this evil organization is, and just who is in charge of it all (and it is a doozy of a reveal)!
DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE!
Black Dynamite is one funny movie! It parodies those classic blaxploitation flicks perfectly. You see continuity errors, flubbed lines, boom mics in the shot, accidental full contact hits during fight scenes, and more. The plot is humorous as well! The sinister plot that Black Dynamite uncovers is just so ridiculous (in a good way). The characters are very funny, and it is so cool to see all these cameos.
DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE!
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| The man. |
Michael Jai White is amazing as Black Dynamite! He gets to be a powerful, strong, hero who has great fashion sense, martial arts skills, and a way with the ladies. One of the best scenes is when he is flirting with Gloria Gray (played by Richardson-Whitfield). One of the best lines I've ever heard in a movie! We see that Black Dynamite cares about his community, and cares about orphans. His treatment of women, though... is not so good. He has female allies, but he is actually kind of domineering towards them. I guess that's how it was back then... We see his treatment of women change throughout the movie, though. Progress!
DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE!
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| It was great to see Tommy Davidson in this, as well as the other cameos! |
As this movie takes place in the 70s, there is a lot of potentially offensive material in it. There are a lot of racial stereotypes and racial jokes in it. The n-word is used in this movie as well. There is a lot of unnecessary gratuitous nudity (female and male). There is a rather graphically animated sex scene. Still, the racial stuff isn't done in a hateful way, it is done in a way to make fun of it. It also makes you realize how far we've come when dealing with race relations, and how far we still need to go.
DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE!
The fight scenes in Black Dynamite are actually very good! I would say they are better than the fight scenes in the blaxploitation movies back then! Michael Jai White gets to show off his skills in this one. The choreography is really good! My favorite fight scenes are spoilers, but just know that these surprise fights rock! Who knew a certain political figure had such high level martial art skills?
DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE!
Should you watch Black Dynamite? I would say yes! It has a ton of laughs, great action, and style for days. I really hope there is a sequel, Black Dynamite is a character that needs to be in more movies!
Reviewed by David Williams
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