Abar

Abar, the First Black Superman (1977)

** (out of 4)

Dr. Kincade (J. Walter Smith) moves his wife and two children into an all white neighborhood where they soon become targets of physical and mental violence. Turns out the white folks aren't too happy about blacks moving in so the doctor must get a bodyguard named Abar (Tobar Mayo) to help. After a tragic death the doctor uses a chemical he's been working on to turn Abar into a superhero. ABAR, THE FIRST BLACK SUPERMAN is a pretty campy movie that thankfully has enough funny moments to make it worth sitting through. With that said, if you're wanting a "good" Blaxploitation film then this here certainly isn't it, although I must say there's some good stuff scattered around and with some more editing I think you could have had a very good movie. What's so strange is that the title refers to the character as a "Superman" type but he actually turns into a mix between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jesus. Abar walks around with special powers that can produce storms, put snakes into women's beds and he even has the power to turn black men's alcohol into milk. This entire sequence is rather bizarre and I'm not exactly sure what the point was but you have to admit that it's rather entertaining. The hilarious moments come from the racist white people. If you've seen a Blaxploitation movie then you know all whites are racist and that stays true here. Just wait until you see the neighbors reaction to the blacks moving in and her "breakdown" is among the funniest scenes I've seen in a very long time. How long it takes for the protests to start was rather hilarious as was a bit where the news station warns people that blacks have moved into town. The performances for the most part are forgettable but both Smith and Mayo are mildly interesting in their parts. The biggest problem is that the film runs on way too long and it takes way too long for the story to get going. I'm really not sure why they waited nearly an hour for the powers to kick in but by then you've really lost interest in it. This is certainly far from a "good" movie but fans of the genre should get a few laughs out of it.

Although obvioulsy not a sophisticated production, in its first 70 minutes, Abar may be considered as an entertaining blaxploitation flick. There is a plot of a black scientist and physician who moves with his family to a fancy neighborhood and suffers violent racist bigotry from his white neighbors with dramatic consequences, and there is a cool badass band of motorcycle vigilantes who protect black people in danger and is led by martial artist Abar. That is not the most innovative script but it is good enough. The problem is that the story turns very confusing afterwards, with many things happening in a hurry without either proper development or good cinematic shooting. It is only in this chaotic part that Abar becomes a superhuman, and his powers are not well defined either: physical invulnerability? Psychic powers of mind control? Transmutation magic? Enhanced wisdom? "morality-change" power? Control of elements and weather? Super-hearing? Teleporting stuff? Summoning animals? God-like powers in general? Quite messy, indeed! The new god-like superhero has as his weakness suffering enfeeblement and reverse effects if he misuses his powers. To resume, everything is too broad to make sense, even considering the range of existing superhero fantasy characters. The end of the movie is bad and cheesy. I cannot help but say that the film had a better potential than its outcome, considering the first two thirds of it, and its failure is not the result of low budget.

This is a bicameral movie, of sorts. The first two thirds is an examination of the problem of middle class blacks (Dr. Kincaide and his family) wanting to move out of his black neighborhood for security and class consciousness concerns. Abar, a vigilante type character running a kind of rogue chapter of something akin to the Black Panthers (but unarmed), challenges Dr. Kincaide to consider raising up those among his race that he is leaving behind.

At this stage, the viewer may be somewhat confused, as the title makes one think they are going to see a genre superhero film, but that doesn't really happen until the last act. The first two acts flesh out the class conflict between the two main characters and their mutual enemy, the white bigots of the neighborhood who want to force Dr. Kincaide to move.

To me, this was the novel and more engaging part of the movie. The last act, when Abar becomes a psycho-telekinetic "superman" is rather amusing, but it is pure fantasy rather than science fiction as it claims ("The first Black science fiction film!"). The goal seems to have been to have this catharsis for black audiences to howl over in the theaters.

I think most of the reviewers here on IMDb have been too hard on this film. Sure, there are technical deficiencies and so forth, but taken on its own terms, "Abar" deserves praise for attempting to tackle a tough subject like class struggle which most blacks would prefer to slough off erroneously as a race question.

A black doctor and his family move to the fancy white suburbs and are met with incredible racism from his new neighbors. He also gets some grief from some in the black community for 'abondoning his people'. You really feel sorry for these people. Eventually, the hatred for these people is so severe that the racists are even willing to kill. The family's only apparent hope is a local black power group--but even they can't protect them 24-7. Ultimately, their hope comes in a VERY bizarre form--a brand new black superhero...Abar! It was very surprising that the first hour of the film was, despite the cheapness, very compelling. Addressing racist attitudes in the fancy suburbs was a very timely idea---though I will be the first to admit that it was handled with all the subtlety of a 2x4 upside your head! It went way too far in handling this, though the emotional toll on the family was well portrayed. As another reviewer pointed out, it was good at addressing the justifiable frustrations in black America.

Unfortunately, after the first hour, it literally looks as if they threw away the script and started over--and the entire film changed so dramatically it seemed insane. And, considering where it went next, insane is the best way to describe it!! Yes, Abar becomes a super-hero of sorts after getting a miraculous potion from the doctor. With it, he has amazing mental powers--powers to help prostitutes beat up their pimps, black men to stop playing dice and get educated and other ways that force his community to clean up its act. And Abar's hero outfit? It's a blue leisure suit! Now this sounds stupid and bizarre. Well, it is bizarre but surprisingly non-stupid and interesting throughout. For a cheapo film with seemingly nothing going for it, it's surprisingly fun to watch and has some amazing depth.

There are a lot of interesting ideas here and it's clearly someone's passion project. Other reviewers have said that the ending is absurd--maybe, but the ending was the most interesting part of the movie. Everything leading up to Abar becoming the "black superman" takes twice as long as it should.

The performances are, for the most part, bad. The script needs tightening. And, unfortunately, due to pacing problems described above, the movie drags and didn't hold my interest. I almost gave up on it, in fact.

That said, I thought it was a thought-provoking movie. It's certainly not a must-see, but there's worse out there.