Shaft

Apart from the theme tune and some pop-culture references I have very little exposure to "Shaft" so I was not expecting much.

I was kind of hoping it would be one of those silly Samuel L films where he says mother trucker a thousand times before shooting someone. This is exactly what this is.

There is nothing clever or earth-shattering about this. There a few shoot outs and some witty banter but no one was vying for an Oscar here. If you are expecting something special or life changing you may need to look further a field.

There is a bit of comedy between Shaft senior and junior, mainly poking fun at millennials and the older generation. This was all harmless enough and, although not laugh out loud funny, was funny enough.

Maybe not one for die hard Shaft fans, adrenaline junkies, or high browers but it kills two hours easily enough.

This movie was a breath of fresh air. It's made for minorities, who ate different from white SJWs. It's non-PC and oozing masculinity like an old Clint Eastwood movie. It will make wimps run to their safe spaces, need a pacifier, or a warm glass of milk. The bad reviews are by people who probably ran from a fight in high school, had their lunch money stolen, or we're locked in their lockers by meanies.

Latest entry in the titular detective series is pretty standard stuff, but worth a look for followers of the character and the actors involved. The focus this time is on John 'JJ' Shaft, III, a timid analyst with the FBI who's forced to team up--and clash with the "old school" methods of his father John Shaft, II while investigating the death of a close friend. It's a waste of time to get into the intricacies of the plot because most of it makes little sense, and is not of any real significance since the goal is to watch and enjoy the banter between the actors, plus throw out lots of in-jokes and a colorful soundtrack to liven things up. Usher lacks charisma (possibly by design) but Jackson's in full badass mode making for more enjoyable moments than you'd expect, and Roundtree's also on hand as an added bonus for devotees of the original series. While it's somewhat fun to see three generations of the same character on screen, there's nothing really special here for them to work with. **

While watching this film, one might constantly wonder "How did a film like this get made in 2019?" Shaft is a wildly politically-incorrect film. It feels like a mediocre 1980s action comedy, but it is almost always fun to watch. Jessie T. Usher struggles to compete with Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree, which makes the film uneven. Jackson breaks no new ground with his performance, but he is a consistent delight to watch.

"Shaft" is an entertaining and funny movie based on the character from the 70´s. The storyline of Shaft´s estranged son that looks for his help to find the truth about the death of his best friend and ends with his grandfather, the original Shaft, helping them to resolve the situation, is forgettable but worthwhile watching. Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie T. Usher and Richard Roundtree together in a possible sequel is promising. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Shaft"