Cinematic spoofs walk a thin line in today’s movie industry. Where the Zucker Brothers and Mel Brooks carefully wrote and rewrote scenes to horseshoe as many jokes into one take as possible, Seltzer + Friedberg (Meet the Spartans) tend to stuff as many unfunny pop culture references into an unfunny scene as possible with no rewrites. The genius of Black Dynamite is that it embraces what it lampoons rather than simply make fun of it.
Michael Jai White plays Black Dynamite, an ex-CIA, ex-special forces, Vietnam Vet that tends to settle problems in his community with the business end of a .357 Magnum. After his brother is killed in a drug related incident, Black Dynamite follows the money and drug infested trail to avenge his death.
What most surprised me about this movie was not it’s presentation. That’s right there in the trailer. What is bound to surprise is Michael Jai White’s performance. The usually scowling White conquers the screen with the same vocal tone of Richard Roundtree but still has some of the best comedic timing I’ve seen in an actor in any movie this year. Where most spoofs fail is the actors ability to keep a straight face and stay in character. Meanwhile White delivers hilarious lines such as “I thought I told you honkies from the CIA that Black Dynamite is outta the game!” with the aloofness of Leslie Nielsen in the Naked Gun series.
What’s amazing about “Black Dynamite” however is it’s ability to pay homage to all of these past genres, while still making us laugh in the process. Whether it’s the kung fu island jaunt in which Black Dynamite faces off against a group of kung fu thugs led by an evil kung fu master or the throngs of topheavied women which grace the screen in numerous occassions, this movie is able to throwback to them without exploiting them. It’s a thin line where Austin Powers crossed after part 2. Black Dynamite is aware that it’s a blaxpoitation flick, complete with a grindhouse like commercial for malt liquor but it’s also aware that it’s celebrating the films of the 70s.
The writing is excellent, as Scott Sanders (director and writer) understands that the best spoof/lampoon is when the characters aren’t in on the joke. You can deliver the lines all you want, but make them believable for that era and that genre. The writing team, director and actors pull this off quite well.
Although the film does seem to drag on for the last 20 minutes, it still doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. When you start to tire of the laughs, it finds a new way to make you burst out into more laughter with the absurdity, such as the world’s most timely Abraham Lincoln cameo. This is one of those movies that begs to be seen over and over again with friends, as this will be a quotefest in the next year, i guarantee.