Shaft

Shaft (2000)

This comes so far after the original "Shaft" in 1971 you might hesitate to call it a sequel. It's more like a revival, or a nostalgic time trip. Except that it's all been updated nicely, with a feeling of the original sassiness intact. And the Isaac Hayes music is central, and terrific, making this a legit Shaft movie.

Samuel Jackson plays the role perfectly, not pulling back and not overdoing it. The idea of a black cop in a city that still has racial biases, in this case emphasizing the rise of Latino drug lords as part of the fracturing, is mainstreamed here. It's not as daring or shocking to see this pushed forward, but it's still effective. Shaft, the main character (who never seems to have a first name), is powerful, smart, and unwilling to be pushed around by authority. Even if it means losing his job (or quitting--Shaft is always the one making his own choices).

The director, John Singleton, is not especially well positioned for a mainstream sequel with high production values (his one famous effort to date is "Boyz n the Hood"), but he pulls it off. This is a snappy, smart, well made movie. It's oddly mainstream, playing with clichés too easily, working with bad guy good guy tenets adding only the minor twist of racial or ethnic alliances, though even these we've seen before. You can't help but see "Jackie Brown" from three years earlier as a far more interesting, well made, and timely movie. That one was by Quentin Tarantino, which changes the score a bit, but it starred Jackson, again, and makes the most of him.

You might say Singleton makes the most of Jackson here, too, but a better way to look at it is that Jackson makes the most of Singleton. He takes over the movie, and it's a good thing. He has talent and presence in a classic Hollywood acting way. The cast around him is really strong, which is nice. (There is a cameo by the original director of the 1971 "Shaft," Gordon Parks, in a bar scene, if you are lucky--a white haired older black man at the table.)

The other terrific actor is Jeffrey Wright, playing a drug king with enough realism and panache to make it real and glitzy both. The third main character is the future Batman, Christian Bale, who is a great bad guy and who you actually miss in the last parts of the movie.

What really brings this down to earth, and too much so, is the story, which is boilerplate stuff. There is machismo, and guns, and a play of one bad guy against another, and one cop against another. You might say, hey, isn't there room for more cop and crime movies that work in familiar circles? Yes. But I again refer to "Jackie Brown" as a way to see out of this box.

This new "Shaft" is good stuff--it's well acted, tightly edited, directed with professional canny (noticeable in lots of different ways), and brings up racial clichés in a fun and even important way. It descends by the last third into overused chase and shoot scenes between cops and robbers. But...it's better than its reputation, for sure. I say see it. Enjoy the attitudes. The acting. And the homage to the original.

I have this on dvd stacked away not watched it in forever but came up online so was like yup.. its still very entertaining even though its kinda caricature done... it has quite a few entangled plots but not in a way its messy its still just centred around one and honestly I was always fascinated by The character People's.. he's probably the best character in the movie for me despite all the big names. I had to have a look at the actor and shocked to see he's not even Puerto Rican.. He nailed this role. Suave, funny, and intimidating when be does lose it. Don't look deep into it these are all extreme stereo types also refreshing to see the use of how easy Jackson and his partner call eachother racial slurs in jest. I remember the days people were comfortable enough with eachother this woukd happen.. this film definitely wouldn't be made now a days it woukd probably cause a riot. Its just good mindless entertainment with a justifiable ending. But Jeffrey Wright for me is the star.

Samuel L. Jackson seems to be having the time of his movie acting life portraying the title character in `Shaft,' John Singleton's take on the groundbreaking classic that, on its release in 1971, served as the blueprint for all the `blaxploitation' films that filled theatres throughout the early and mid 1970's. Unfortunately, the concept of a rogue black cop, defying the rules and doing things his own way, is not as fresh as it was back in the time of the original film, so this new version of `Shaft' has less to recommend it. Still, it is an efficient police procedural, filled with crowd-pleasing moments of adrenalin-pumping melodrama, hissable villains and a wisecracking, kickass hero who seems virtually indestructible – just the way we like our heroes to be in a movie like this.

Singleton pays affectionate homage to the original film in many ways. Jackson actually plays the nephew of the original Shaft and, indeed, Richard Roundtree makes a cameo appearance early on in the film as Jackson's seasoned mentor. Singleton wisely uses the original Isaac Hayes recording of the hit song as background for the film's opening credit sequence and backs up many of the action scenes with an impressive instrumental interpretation as well.

The story offers little that is new for this particular genre whose films often rise or fall based on the quality of the foils against whom the hero must ultimately contend. Luckily, the filmmakers are blessed with not just one but two impressive villains – Jeffrey Wright as Peoples Hernandez, a tough talking thug who wants to expand out of the little neighborhood kingdom he has established into the big time of upper class drug dealing, and Christian Bale as Walter Wade, Jr., the racist, spoiled-brat son of a New York City magnate whose hate crime killing of an innocent black man sets the plot in motion and serves as fodder for Shaft's personal vendetta. Bale proves definitively that the quality of subtle, soul-cringing evil he brought to his role in `American Psycho' was no fluke and that he can be as effective in a big budget extravaganza like this one as he is in a smaller scale, far more quirky work like `Psycho.' Vanessa Williams, on the other hand, who plays Shaft's partner and who is almost unrecognizable buried under a dark beret, fails to distinguish herself either in her role or in her performance.

Then we have Mr. Jackson himself. Here is a man who slides so effortlessly into the role that, despite the absurdity and incredibility of much that is going on around him, we never question the film's veracity for a moment. Whether tossing off wisecracks, shooting at unarmed criminals, pounding defenseless suspects into insensibility or consoling distraught witnesses, Shaft remains forever a hero, acting out the impulses we in the audience feel but are never able to fully act upon in our daily lives. Thus, this new `Shaft' works best as simpleminded good vs. evil melodrama – and even the most sophisticated movie watcher can use a bit of that once in a while.

"Shaft 2000" is a reasonable successor to the original Shaft of 29 years ago. The film shows restraint by keeping Shaft big, but not bigger than life, as it tries to be a human story first and an action flick second. Unfortunately, in spite of good performances (especially by Wright) and good production talent, the story fails on the human level and hedges on the obvious alternative of exaggerated good and bad guys and a profusion of gratuitous violence, sex, and action. Worth a watch but keep expectations low.

I liked this one alot-fast moving, funny, crude, violent at times, has the same old 'sphagetti Western' shooting style where the baddie can't hit the broadside of a barn with 400 rounds while Shaft takes'em out one shot at a time, never misses. Enjoyed Jackson in this mucho, this is some fine work by a kinetic actor in his prime. Vanessa Williams is easy on the eyes and a smooth actress in her own right, plus you have to give this Jeffrey Wright guy credit for doing a bang up job as a Puerto Rican(!!) villain(with a heart, sorta...). Bale as the Menendez Brother from hell is effective too. I liked Richard Roundtree, Pat Hingle and Gordon Parks' cameos(look fast for him, as Mr. P in the bar!)

This one isn't meant to be taken too seriously, the car chases and shootouts are right outta anything Dirty Harry has done-but you know, John Singleton sez he intended for this to be a popcorn movie, and I agree, he has hit the bullseye with this.

And that Isaac Hayes score, gotta love it!

*** outta ****, go see it and have fun.