Black Dynamite (2009)

It has been quite some time since I've seen a movie do a great job of spoofing a genre. Perhaps the last movie that knocked it out of the park was the first "Scary Movie" but nothing can compare to the skill and apparent love that was put into making "Black Dynamite". The movie stars Michael Jai White whom plays "Black Dynamite"...a guy who's one part Shaft and one part Bruce Lee...and like both of those guys when he's on the screen he's kicking ass...except in a funny pimpin kind of way.

I honestly can say I haven't laughed that much during a movie...especially at the one liners and action sequences since the first time that I saw "Army of Darkness." The story is a pure 70's B movie style revenge story but done in the funniest way possible. There are so many one liners in this movie that are delivered with such cheeziness (on purpose of course) that I don't want to ruin them for you, but to give you an idea here is one of the more milder (i.e. one of the few non-swearing quotes):

"O'Leary: We heard about your brother's death and we don't want you running around turning the streets into rivers of blood.

Black Dynamite: Then tell me who did it and I'll just leave a puddle "

What really makes "Black Dynamite" work though was the visual style of the movie which used a soft fuzzy yellow filter on the screen to make it look like it was made in the 70's and the attention to details from the old school opening credits, to the trippy animated sequence in the middle and straight on to the closing credits this movie feels like it was made in the 70's. Other filmmakers have tried to recapture the past when making their movies, most recently Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez in their respective "Grindhouse" movies and while those movies captured the style of the movies from back in the day...the visual element was somewhat lacking which is suprising considering the budget they must have had to make their movies and the budget that Michael Jai White must have had with this movie.

It is really a shame that a movie like this did not get a wider release and went straight to DVD cause it really is one hell of a comedy and perhaps the funniest movie I've seen in 2009 other than "The Hangover" but honestly I'd have to give the edge to "Black Dynamite."

IMDB: 7.7/10

P.S. Keep an eye out for some of the cameo's :)