Film Review: Black Dynamite

Today’s post was written by my good friend Dave Chevalier. Dave is a former advertising executive who put down the pen and picked up a tourniquet, choosing instead to patch people up as a Registered Nurse in a very busy Emergency room while maintaining his off-colour alter ego in the real world.

I’ve heard it said before that what makes a cult movie so damned good is that almost nobody knows about it. But it must be worth watching – if not, why did someone tell you about it?

Far too often, movies in the last 20 years have been made and re-made from previous stories; in many cases, only minor details are changed for the remake. For example, James Cameron’s multi-billion dollar movie Avatar…this is not new material. It’s Dances with Wolves in space, with blue Indians. Give me a break; at least TRY to be original, Jim.

Some movies, though, thrive on the fact that they’re re-treading the tire…the classic spoof film. Some names are spoken with reverence (Spaceballs) while others go a bit too far (Don’t Be a Menace II South Central While Drinking Juice in the Hood). In fact, one immortal line from spoof film “This is Spinal Tap” states that “there’s a fine line between stupid and clever”, and one film that sits squarely on this line is the soon-to-be-legendary Black Dynamite.

Barely a year old, this blaxploitation spoof manages to hit all the right notes as it satirizes the genre from which it was spawned, while brazenly stealing all the little bits that made blaxploitation films so fun to watch. Michael Jai White (Spawn, The Dark Knight) co-wrote and starred as the titular character, who manages to take on The Man and save the day for just about everyone in just under 90 minutes. The clothes, the music, the out-of-focus camera work is utterly pitch perfect, but it’s the dialogue that truly sets this film off. Any film that can work in the line “your knowledge of scientific biological transmogrification is only outmatched by your zest for kung-fu treachery!” without skipping a beat is a force to be reckoned with.

All the hallmarks of the low-budget poorly-produced blaxploitation films are present here. Characters have names like Cream Corn and Chocolate Giddy-Up, there’s kung fu elements sprinkled liberally throughout, flashback scenes are rampant – there’s even a scene with a visible boom microphone that actually hits the actor with an audible ‘boomp’ off his Afro. The ending of the film, however, arrives far too rapidly after a long build-up, and it becomes so over-the-top that it almost breaks the magic…almost.

I’ve watched Black Dynamite three times in one week with different groups of people, and every single person enjoyed at least parts of the film, which is more than can be said for the latest Hollywood special effects blockbuster. Black Dynamite plants a tongue firmly in cheek at the very start of the film and keeps it buried there throughout. The film never takes itself seriously, and Michael Jai White is both unabashedly badass and effortlessly droll. He’s back and he’s bad, he’s black and he’s mad [note: thank you, Lethal Weapon] and he’s worth the time you spend watching him kick ass and take names. Dyno-mite!

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2. Film Review: The Comedians of Comedy
3. Film Review: (500) Days of Summer (Netflix November)
4. Theatre review: The Woman in Black
5. Film Review: The Warriors (Netflix November)