Black Dynamite a Moderately Funny Spoof

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.

Michael Jai White (center) is the main attraction in Apparition's Black Dynamite

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.