Review: 'Black Dynamite'

Riff on over-the-top blaxploitation genre will have you laughing hard.

from the October 16, 2009 edition

I'm not sure that the satirical "Black Dynamite" is going to be a laugh-riot for audiences unschooled in the ways of blaxploitation films, but if you have any familiarity at all with "Super Fly" and "Shaft," I'm pretty sure you'll be as convulsed as I was. Director and co-writer Scott Sanders understands that many of those exploitation films were already on the cusp of self-satire. In "Black Dynamite," starring co-writer Michael Jai White as the eponymous stud avenger hero, Sanders pushes the envelope without breaking the seal. You could argue, I suppose, that this film, a Sundance hit, is essentially a funny sketch padded out to feature length. And what of it, my man? Grade: B+ (Rated R for sexuality/nudity, language, some violence, and drug content.)