Black Dynamite

***1/2 – Some of the most identifiable features in the blaxploitation genre are things like poorly choreographed kung fu action, bizarre 70s clothes choices, forgettable soul-funk music, goofy vernaculars, whitey-funded anti-black conspiracies, rampant misogyny and gratuitous sex and gunplay. In 2009’s spoof/homage “Black Dynamite” all these factors and many more are not only present but are nitro-boosted into the stratosphere. Unlike a lot of spoof films that go for the big laughs by creating jokes that aren’t necessarily interwoven well into a genre’s story style, this movie makes just enough tweaks to an already highly laughable type of film that it accentuates the previously present ludicrousness without having to add broad gags or drastically altering the format. The acting and dialogue so precisely nail the style that if one watches this without playing much attention and ignores the notable names involved it could easily be mistaken for an actual “Shaft” or “Sweet Sweetback” type of flick straight out of 1973. Closer attention, however, will reveal the detail and nuance added to the script and action that work together to make the first hour borderline hilarious. Towards the end of the movie the silliness quotient ramped up to a point – probably around the time that Black Dynamite took on Richard Nixon in a knockdown drag-out kung fu nunchuk battle in the Oval Office – that it became a little too over-the-top for my tastes. Up until then, though, I would have to say that “Black Dynamite” was a humor-filled and entertaining romp that is an effective send-up of the type of picture that was prevalent in the early 70s heyday of blaxploitation.