Black Dynamite

Shaft, Undercover Brother, Pootie Tang, Django Unchained. All of these movies have one thing in common: they are all a part of the sub-genre of film known Blaxploitation. This genre has seen many entries over the years, but one of the best, in my opinion, would have to be Black Dynamite. This movie, released in 2009, was made as a spoof of these types of movies, and it is one of the funniest movies I've seen ever.

The film follows the titular Black Dynamite as he uncovers a conspiracy that goes far beyond what you would originally think. Everything is made to look like a film from the 70's, from the costumes to the music, everything thing meshes really well to encapsulate the feeling of the era. One element of humor used throughout the movie is the use of "mistakes" in either production or editing. These instances are done on purpose to give a low budget feel to the film and it's really funny to see them run with mistakes that normal movies avoid like the plague.

For instance, in one scene Black Dynamite stands up and his head hits the boom, which is clearly in the shot and he looks at it confused, or when another character gets slapped in a fight, he breaks character and actually gets pissed which is followed by a quick cut and resuming the scene with a completely different actor. Little things like this go a long way for keen viewers picking up on every little subtle joke. In addition to the movie, an animated show was produced for Adult Swim, featuring the cast of the original movie, and that just takes the over-the top factor, well, over the top. This movie definitely isn't for everyone, and from a technical perspective it isn't really anything spectacular, but it is just such a good time that it's hard not to enjoy while watching it.