Shaft
(2000)
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 Hours and 39 Minutes
Reviewer: Jones
Grade: C+Who's the black private dick that's the sex machine to all the chicks?
Well if you were to listen to the theme song you would think that the answer would be Shaft.
However, after watching the movie, I failed to see any sort of reason as to why he would be referred to in this manner.
I have heard Shaft described as Dirty Harry and James Bond all rolled into one. The old Shaft that is. I have not seen the old "Shaft" so this may be the case, but as far as the new breed of Shaft goes it falls decidedly short of reaching the lofty description of the original.
First he lays ABSOLUTELY no pipe and secondly he only half-assed beats a couple people down. There is only one implied boot knocking in the whole movie and it is a rather unconvincing implication at that. Lastly when Clint AKA "Dirty Harry" kills somebody he does so with a sort of pinache that Shaft can never quite grasp. So I think we've established the fact that this is a rather hollow demonstration of all things Shaft on all levels so let's get to the meat of this affair.
The story goes something like this. Some black guy gets killed by some rich white boy, thus bringing Shaft into the proceedings. The white boy skips the country while out on bail, but Shaft stays on the case. When whitey returns, he needs a witness iced with the help of some little sadistic latino gangster named Peoples Hernandez. Shaft ends up having to protect the witness from crooked cops, the latino guys, and whoever else feels like causing problems.
Shaft is played maybe just a little too cool for his own good by Samuel L. Jackson. He goes about his business like he's king shit all the while we never see why he acts this way, other than the fact that he is a pissed off black police officer. Some might think that's motivation enough, but it would be nice to have things play out from a different angle for a change. Keep things fresh you know.
By far the best part of this movie is the incessantly smug performance of Christian Bale ("American Psycho") as the rich white boy. It seems like all he can do is play smug little bastards, but he does it so well that it is always a pleasure to behold. He exudes cockiness.
He is the sort of character you love to hate, although I found myself , at times, rooting for him to bring Shaft down just because he was so much more enjoyable to see onscreen than Sam.
I am definitely looking forward to seeing whatever he does next. He is so sure of himself in whatever he does that it makes it a pleasure just seeing him appear onscreen, let alone hearing what he has to say.
Aside from the two leads other quality performances are tossed in by Toni Collette ("The Sixth Sense") as the witness and Jeffrey Wright as Peoples Hernandez. He is especially enjoyable when he repeatedly stabs himself in the chest with the little swizzlestick he calls a weapon.
"Shaft" is one of those movies that could have been something truly distinct in design, but instead wound up playing out just like about every other action movie you see these days.
One thing that really pissed me off while watching this movie (other than the drunk jackoff in the crowd who kept shouting "Busta!!!" and reciting rap lyrics whenever that waste of skin Busta Rhymes was onscreen) was the fact that every character was at every scene no matter how ludicrous their presence at said scene may have been. People would show up with no explanation as to how they got there whatsoever. It's not like this happened once or twice, but rather it happens constantly throughout the movie. You're left sitting there thinking "How the hell did those two clowns get here so fast?" and "What the hell is SHE doing here?" It's the sort of thing that gets under your skin and festers like a boil on the butt of humanity until you just can't stand it anymore.
Or maybe that was just that dumbass shouting "BUSTA!!!"