His brother has been murdered by “The Man.” Heroin is being pumped into local orphanages. Spiked malt liquor is being flooded into the ghetto in attempt to destroy male virility. All of this added together has made Black Dynamite (Michael Jai White, who also co-wrote the screenplay) mad, and you don’t want to make Black Dynamite mad.

CRITIQUE

There isn’t much to say about the blaxploitation spoof Black Dynamite other than to admit it is pretty darn funny. The surprise winner of the Golden Space Needle audience award for Best Film at the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival, this silly chopsocky 1970’s style adventure isn’t without its merits. Director and co-writer Scott Sanders (Thick as Thieves) shows an ability to keep things focused even when the risk of going completely off the rails is high, the whole thing a relatively entertaining farce difficult to dislike.

All that being the case, while I did laugh quite a bit personally I don’t quite see what all the fuss is about. I appreciate the time and effort that went into making the movie as authentic as possible. I love that, unlike somewhat similar comedic concoctions I’m Gonna Get You Sucka or Undercover Brother this film actually takes place in the actual time period the genre which inspired came to be popular. I also think White gives a positively outstanding performance, inhabiting the central character with the same masculine machismo Richard Roundtree brought to Shaft or Ron O’Neil brought to Super Fly.

But the simple truth is that this is essentially a one joke movie, and even when the filmmakers started sprinkling in a third act homage to Enter the Dragon I’d kind of started to tune out by that point. This kind of humor isn’t typically my cup of tea, and while Sanders’ film is definitely better than most and while my enjoyment level never ebbed to the point of boredom the chances of my returning to it in the future are just about nil.

 I will say this. There is a reason that everyone thought that White was going to be a huge star right before Spawn came out in 1997. The guy can be a force of nature, his martial arts skills so good one almost wonders what might have been had this been a straight ahead action movie. More than that, though, he oozes charisma, and even when his mannerisms become stereotypically Neanderthal in nature (thus perfectly fitting the genre) there is something about him that remains mysteriously mesmerizing.

There isn’t too much else to say. Tommy Davidson (whatever happened to him?) turns in an extremely funny supporting performance as a Dynamite friend and confidant, and it’s nice to see Aresenio Hall hasn’t lost any of his hysterical hyperactive energy he used to have in spades back in the late 1980’s early 1990’s. I also think the movie is wonderfully shot by Shawn Maurer (Disaster Movie), while the delightfully silly sound effects and music cues are worth about a half-dozen laughs all on their own.

So there you have it. For my part I think Black Dynamite is a perfectly passable spoof filled with some great moments and some nice performances. It is also, however, a one joke movie that sadly runs out of steam towards the end. It is uneven and not always as inspired as it seems to think it is. But even with that being the case I did enjoy myself while watching it, the good outweighing the bad just enough I’m willing to cut this ghetto kung-fu crime fighter some slack.

THE VIDEO

Black Dynamite is presented in 1.85:1/1080p with the AVC encode on a 50GB disc. This is a solid transfer that clearly represents the theatrical presentation; muted colors, a somewhat soft image, contrast that neither runs too low nor too high but stays just in the middle of the spectrum, black levels that range from strong to plain and average, and of course the intentional grain and reversal of the film stock which is the director’s aesthetic choice to reflect the look of films of the 70s. The picture doesn’t have any artifacts, while the level of image detail is more than adequate. If you are looking for spectacular, crisp images in high-def you might be slightly disappointed. Optional subtitles include English SDH, English and French.

THE AUDIO

Black Dynamite is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, and it goes without saying this soundtrack is dynamite! Besides the obvious pun, dialogue is clear and the music rocks the surrounds at appropriate times. There are no other language options.

THE EXTRAS

Commentary with director/co-writer Scott Sanders, actor/co-writer Michael Jai White and actor/co-writer Byron Minns: There is a lot of good and fun information contained in this relaxed chat about the movie, origins, ideas, and scene specific tidbits.

Deleted & Alternate Scenes (25:15, SD): There is a lot of material here, some of which was wisely cut from the film.

Lighting the Fuse (22:48, HD): This making-of featurette goes into some detail of the film’s origin, characters, locations/production design, like film stock, editing. There’s plenty of interviews here with the filmmakers and cast.

Blu-ray Exclusive

The 70s: Back in Action (14:13, HD): A piece about the era featuring interviews with the same participants as the making-of. It’s a nostalgic retrospective in some ways.

The Comic-Con Experience (18:04): Elvis Mitchell hosts the comic-con panel for the film and features attendees Scott Sanders, Byron Minss, Michael Jai White, and Salli Richardson-Whitfield. This is a pretty nice inclusion for those who don’t get to see these types of panels.

Trailers: A host of trailers for other Sony titles, but no trailer for Black Dynamite! -- now that’s super bad.

This disc is also BD-Live enabled.

Sony’s movieIQ trivia track features  in-movie information about the cast, crew, music and production via BD-Live.

Viewers can also create their own bookmarks and scene clips. Video-based extras are presented English Stereo.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Black Dynamite has to be experienced to be believed; it’s fun and goes back to the satire genre that has over the last decade been largely neglected.