Black Dynamite: He's superbad, He's out of sight!

When his younger brother is murdered, former CIA agent Black Dynamite swears vengence. His pursuit to discover the killer leads him into a deeper conspiracy that not only threatens him, but his friends and neighborhood as well.

Just as the Austin Powers movies playfully paid homage to a specific genre of film, (the spy/secret agent film), Black Dynamite paid homage to a film genre, the blaxploitation films of the 1970’s. And what a tremendously entertaining homage it was, full of camp, action, martial arts and one bad dude in Black Dynamite. Michael Jai White played the title character to the hilt. Dynamite had the muscle to back up his promises to find the people responsible for his younger brother’s death, clean up the drug infested streets, plus the smooth game to make any woman his. The fact that White played the part seriously made one want to laugh even harder at his exploits. Everything else one would expect to see in films like Super Fly or Foxy Brown (two blaxploitation classics) was featured prominently in Black Dynamite as well. There was a conspiracy by “The Man” to hold the black community down, colorful characters with imaginative names that incited uncontrollable giggling, (Chocolate Giddy-Up and Cream Corn were two of the better ones), and the kind of street slang that only makes sense when the characters spouting it are decked out in wide-lapelled mack daddy suits that all of the cool cats sported back in the decade of disco. Even if a person was not familiar with the movies White (who co-wrote the script) and director Scott Sanders were lampooning, there was still plenty which could keep them laughing hysterically. Boom mics appeared in frame at random points, actors that were present at the beginning of a fight scene were suddenly replaced about halfway through by another actor who, although wearing the same costume, looked nothing like the first actor, the final showdown featured Black Dynamite facing off against Richard Nixon (no joke!), heck there was even a catchy refrain of “Dynamite, Dynamite” sung every time Black Dynamite would dramatically walk into a room or take out another jive turkey.

Hands down Black Dynamite was a fun film which reminded the audience that sometimes a little silliness can go a long way. Can you dig that suckas!

Grade: A-