“Black Dynamite,” released on DVD and Blu-Ray Disc on Feb. 16, is a loving tribute to the blaxploitation genre.
Black Dynamite (Michael Jai White) sets out to fight “The Man.” He is joined by club owner Bullhorn, (Byron Minns), who channels the spirit of the genre classic “Dolemite,” the pimp Cream Corn (Tommy Davidson) and an assorted group of revolutionaries and other blaxploitation staples.
The tone is set during the first scene where Black Dynamite’s brother is killed by “The Man.” That scene is one of the funniest murders I’ve seen, but it’s just one of countless others found in the movie. The bar is set high early on and “Black Dynamite” never disappointed me.
“Black Dynamite” isn’t a mean-spirited parody or satire of blaxploitation. It’s the biggest tribute to the genre in decades, and you can tell everyone involved in the project loved the source material. The writing matches that found in the genre’s best movies and the acting does as well. While every named character, and even the extras, gave me a chuckle while watching “Black Dynamite,” White’s performance as the ever-serious Black Dynamite pushed the movie from good to great for me. White even manages to add more to the film by occasionally, and purposefully, breaking character during more intense moments.
The movie doesn’t seem to slow down and was even more enjoyable to me on repeat watches as I was able to catch some of the quicker jokes I missed the first time.
The film drips with style. The first thing you’ll notice is the film grain found throughout the film. The grain makes the film look like it was copied over from some old VHS tape or video reel to disc, and they even splice in old stock footage seamlessly into the film.
The colors in the film are also very saturated which makes the character’s threads pop out even more. The costumes themselves were also authentic as possible, being made entirely of clothes bought from thrift stores according to a special feature found on the disc. All of this somehow made “Black Dynamite” feel more authentic to me.
The style of the soundtrack is also a plus for the film. The background music, a combination of funk, soul and generic movie themes, is so good I can’t tell whether it was created just for “Black Dynamite” or if it was removed from a ’70s B-movie. However the soul songs are the biggest draw. I’m not going to spoil what makes them so special, just make sure you pay attention to the lyrics.
The movie also comes along with a few extra features that are surprisingly disappointing. While there are some interesting features about how they constructed the ’70s vibe, deleted scenes, trailers for other films and director and cast comedy, the package feels a little empty. This is problematic as I discovered that “Black Dynamite” had a series of retro-styled public service announcements that are hilarious and would have been nice to see included in the package.
Overall, though, if you like to laugh and want a good night, I say sit down and watch “Black Dynamite.”