Runtime: An overlong 111
minutes
Directed by: Tim Story
Starring: A cast that
deserved better
From: Warner Bros./New
Line Cinema
Well, at least the crowd I saw the movie with seemed to like it...
Despite my reservations with this movie after seeing its trailer present itself as a comedy (which turned out to be accurate) I could not resist the appeal of seeing Richard Roundtree on the big screen in 2019 so I went and checked this out-on a giant screen, no less... with a small audience; not a surprise to me as I barely saw any advertising for this and multiple people I knew expressed shock that there even was a Shaft 2019-and it was yet another reminder why modern comedies in general are pretty repellent.
All this movie is: old out of touch people in Hollywood crapping on millennials. You see, John Shaft III is a graduate of MIT and is a data analyst for the FBI yet because he has a vase full of lemons in his apartment, likes lacrosse, respects women, uses terms like “cis-gender”, doesn't like guns, drinks coconut water, knows Capoeira and texts... his dad will not only call him “a pussy”, but even ask him if he “likes pussy”-also, what a comment to hear during Pride Month. Sorry for stating this bluntly but that was the method Shaft 2019 used to express such a message. These one-note characters quickly became tiresome, especially III as even during the climax he is portrayed as a “soft wuss” and an incompetent fool, and I grew even more tired of all the constant vulgarity and gross moments. At least every fifth word out of Regina Hall's mouth is an F bomb and in no way was that appealing to me.
Besides being insulted that this crass “comedy” besmirched a classic blaxploitation character and set of films from the 70's, the plot is completely weak. Shaft III needs help from his dad Shaft II (they haven't met each other since III was an infant) to investigate what he deems to be a fishy death of his best friend. It's not even worth spoiling what the scheme is but of course this friend was murdered because he knew too much. Not a lot of investigating actually happens and instead it is father and son bickering with each other. I mean, it's not even until deep in the third act that the original Shaft finally shows up.
Say what you will about Christian Bale as Alt-Right member Walter Wade Jr. and Jeffrey Wright either impersonating Carlito Brigante or Tony Montana as Peoples Hernandez, those characters at least were memorable; the heels here are barely even seen and when they are, talk about nothing characters that might as well have been portrayed by puppets. If the score would have been awesome and the action would have been glorious, that would have helped... but of course both are for the most part pretty flaccid, even with the usage of a quality James Brown tune.
I know many reading this on Letterboxd will automatically reject this now knowing it (poorly) attacks millennials for the stereotypical things they like and also is offensive against some marginalized groups (as this does not paint the rosiest picture of Muslims either... come to think of it, that subplot went nowhere); me, I am too old to be a millennial and I am not automatically against someone poking fun of them. However, let's not do it in a movie that is tied into the Shaft franchise and have someone better than Tim Story direct it, alright? This is not COMPLETELY dire and this did elicit a few chuckles; otherwise, this would have received an even worse score.
Despite my reservations with this movie after seeing its trailer present itself as a comedy (which turned out to be accurate) I could not resist the appeal of seeing Richard Roundtree on the big screen in 2019 so I went and checked this out-on a giant screen, no less... with a small audience; not a surprise to me as I barely saw any advertising for this and multiple people I knew expressed shock that there even was a Shaft 2019-and it was yet another reminder why modern comedies in general are pretty repellent.
All this movie is: old out of touch people in Hollywood crapping on millennials. You see, John Shaft III is a graduate of MIT and is a data analyst for the FBI yet because he has a vase full of lemons in his apartment, likes lacrosse, respects women, uses terms like “cis-gender”, doesn't like guns, drinks coconut water, knows Capoeira and texts... his dad will not only call him “a pussy”, but even ask him if he “likes pussy”-also, what a comment to hear during Pride Month. Sorry for stating this bluntly but that was the method Shaft 2019 used to express such a message. These one-note characters quickly became tiresome, especially III as even during the climax he is portrayed as a “soft wuss” and an incompetent fool, and I grew even more tired of all the constant vulgarity and gross moments. At least every fifth word out of Regina Hall's mouth is an F bomb and in no way was that appealing to me.
Besides being insulted that this crass “comedy” besmirched a classic blaxploitation character and set of films from the 70's, the plot is completely weak. Shaft III needs help from his dad Shaft II (they haven't met each other since III was an infant) to investigate what he deems to be a fishy death of his best friend. It's not even worth spoiling what the scheme is but of course this friend was murdered because he knew too much. Not a lot of investigating actually happens and instead it is father and son bickering with each other. I mean, it's not even until deep in the third act that the original Shaft finally shows up.
Say what you will about Christian Bale as Alt-Right member Walter Wade Jr. and Jeffrey Wright either impersonating Carlito Brigante or Tony Montana as Peoples Hernandez, those characters at least were memorable; the heels here are barely even seen and when they are, talk about nothing characters that might as well have been portrayed by puppets. If the score would have been awesome and the action would have been glorious, that would have helped... but of course both are for the most part pretty flaccid, even with the usage of a quality James Brown tune.
I know many reading this on Letterboxd will automatically reject this now knowing it (poorly) attacks millennials for the stereotypical things they like and also is offensive against some marginalized groups (as this does not paint the rosiest picture of Muslims either... come to think of it, that subplot went nowhere); me, I am too old to be a millennial and I am not automatically against someone poking fun of them. However, let's not do it in a movie that is tied into the Shaft franchise and have someone better than Tim Story direct it, alright? This is not COMPLETELY dire and this did elicit a few chuckles; otherwise, this would have received an even worse score.
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