I heard negative word of mouth on Black Dynamite out of Sundance last year, but then heard they'd done some re-cutting. I figured, "hey, I'll give it a shot on video" and was somewhat pleasantly surprised. The movie did feel like a sketch at feature length, as I'd been warned. There were a few really gut-shaking gags and sequences, but at the end, I merely thought, "well, ok. Now what?"
I suppose the biggest issue I had with it was that it felt like they were trying too hard to cram a little of everything into the story and amalgamate multiple distinct styles of blaxploitation movies. It was as if they wanted to cover all the ground possible in one movie without giving proper attention to the "so what" that all of us watching care about. The guys dug the source material and certainly understood how to translate it better than the Bitch Slap guys, but I can't say the thing lit me on fire. That said, the commentary, deleted scenes, featurette, and Comic-Con presentation on the Blu-ray are all worth watching at least once unless the movie sends you into fits.
Byron Minns, who co-wrote the movie and and co-stars as Bullhorn, steals the show out from under everyone. The man channels the actors of the era with uncanny skill. I'd love to see more work from this guy. Tommy Davidson's presence reminds me of In Living Color, one of the most consistently funny, reliably wonderful sketch comedy shows ever. In the world of genre satire, Black Dynamite is more ILC than SNL. More rough around the edges and unapologetically imperfect. There's some brains and social consciousness in place rather than a heavily corporatized vibe. I have no idea where Michael Jai White plans to take the announced sequel, but it's in my "well...might watch" column for now. We'll see.
I've been talking myself out of going negative on Dynamite since I watched it, and here I'm wavering again. What they went after is charming, it is. I can respect the work these guys put into it even though what they look back on now as hilarious and goofy was the beginnings of money-making filmmaking for black people by black people. If this movie means more people watch actual films from the era like Black Gestapo (starring Mac from Night Court!) and don't just laugh at "those silly black folks". In that case, we're square in the Church of the Movie Godz, even though the movie isn't all that great or memorable for me.