His pimp hand is strong but fair. He keeps his resplendent Afro, rippling pecs, and nunchakus well-oiled. He’s Black Dynamite.
In this glorious retro homage to ’70s blaxploitation cinema, director Scott Sanders isn’t so much traversing I’m Gonna Git You, Sucka territory as he is making a full-length Grindhouse spoof trailer — and doing a shockingly awesome job of it. Michael Jai White (who co-wrote the screenplay and looks as if he were having more fun here than he did in Spawn) turns in a pitch-perfect performance as our title ass-whupping, stone-faced, Shaft-esque hero, never once winking for the camera.
Around him revolve a constellation of outsized tropes including a signifyin’ Dolemite send-up named Bullhorn, ho’ queen Honeybee, and the “Fiendish Dr. Wu.” As Dynamite kung-fu-fights his way through a vast conspiracy involving smack-addled orphans, malt liquor, and the best (read: worst) exploding-car scene of 2009, you’ll feel a rush of ’70s nostalgia you never knew you had.
