Shaft (2019)

Last night, I got the chance to watch the new “Shaft” movie, which came out a little over three weeks ago. How is it, you ask? The story is about Army vet Karim (Avan Jogia) dying of a heroin overdose and his best friend, FBI analyst John Shaft Jr. (Jessie T. Usher) finding it suspicious since Karim got clean and was involved with Brothers Watching Brothers, a group supporting addicted vets. However, the young man who hates guns does not take this well when he tries to follow clues that takes him inside Harlem’s drug underground. Needing help, he goes to his father, who his mother has kept him away from his entire life because of his violent lifestyle, John “Shaft.”

Why do they keep titling the films “Shaft?” Back in 2000, the late John Singleton casted Samuel L. Jackson in the role, not as the original “Shaft,” but his nephew in a sequel named “Shaft” just like the 1971 original. “Black-ish” Kenya Barris and “The Goldberg’s” Alex Barnow have also changed the family relationships for this third “Shaft,” Richard Roundtree is back again, this time as the father to Jackson’s Shaft, a change said in a throwaway line in the film’s final act. Laura Clifford said in her review, “New director Tim Story has changed the dynamic as well, the odd couple pairing of cool cat Shaft and the metrosexual, gun-loathing son raised to be completely different from his dad right out of his "Ride Along" playbook.” Thankfully, Jackson and Usher together is actually a lot more fun.

The film starts with a 1989 flashback which explains two things – Shaft’s still wanting revenge against Harlem drug lord Pierro “Gordito” Carrera (Isaach De Bankolé) and why his former wife Maya (Regina Hall) took their son and left (a simple issue of a baby in the backseat during a gun fight with the drug gang). The beginning credits montage shows Shaft trying to stay in his son’s life through so many increasingly inappropriate Christmas, birthday and graduation gifts.

JJ, as John Jr. is known, uses his position to retrieve important information, like Karim’s autopsy report that he shares with mutual college friend Sasha, played by Alexandra Shipp, a doctor who recognizes the amount of heroin in Karim’s body would have been impossible for him to take alone. However, when JJ goes to the location where Karim’s body was found, he’s gypped by a kid on a bike (Jalyn Hall) before getting the name of drug dealer Manny (Ian Casselberry) whose men punch him in the head. Meanwhile JJ’s FBI boss, Special Agent Vietti, played by Titus Welliver, warns him to step aside for the more experienced professionals when a politically sensitive surveillance case on the Rashad Azzam Mosque is given. (Clifford said, “Bonus points to those who suspect this mosque and dad's old nemesis might be tied to Karim's death.”)

Clifford mentioned, “The plot is almost beside the point in a movie like 2019's "Shaft," which exists solely to enjoy Samuel L. Jackson's cool quotient.  Expect to hear his signature swear involving mothers, as well as 2000's catch phrase 'It's my duty to please that booty.'  Neither prepares us for the hilarious sight gag that greets JJ when he knocks on dad's office door, a bit of curiously placed glitter telling a raunchy tale.  Do be prepared for a lot of sexist references and homophobic jokes (neither elder Shaft can get over the name of Karim's charity) that keep Shaft tethered to his 1970's origins.”

Samuel L. Jackson works well with Usher, at first criticizing his son’s abilities, then becoming impressed, especially when his son gets drunk at an underground club he’s taken to and fights someone with Capoeira, the Brazilian “dance” martial art; unusual, but successful. Clifford said, “Dad also nudges JJ's platonic relationship to the place Sasha's clearly waiting for it to be while waiting for the reemerged Maya to succumb to his charms.” Hall gives such a great performance as when she gets in a aggressive, but event matched relationship, taking a more positive role when that 1989 flashback is matched in a restaurant date (with Leland L. Jones’s Ron) in the present. She is hilarious when she goes off on Shaft in a bathroom mirror, unaware to one of the other ladies.

Clifford said, “Roundtree comes into play in the film's third act, his cool more deadpan than Jackson's.” The final fight takes place in a glass walled Manhattan penthouse, the better for comedic mistakes flying in and dramatic deaths on the way out. Clifford mentioned, “By film's end, JJ has ditched his 'badminton sneakers,' striding down the street with dad and granddad all wearing matching black turtlenecks and rust colored leather dusters.” Let’s see if there will be another “Shaft” sequel and it doesn’t come out 19 years later.

In the end, I like the comedy in this movie and thought it was thoroughly enjoying, but I didn’t like the whole racial issues in the movie, especially the Islamophobia. This sort of racial labeling, especially when it comes to Islamophobia, needs to be expunged, if there is a way to do that. Besides that, I still think this is a worthy sequel that people should see in the theaters, if it’s still playing in one near you. Check it out and see for yourself. Don’t listen to the critics, who are bashing on this movie, judge it for yourself.

Thank you for joining in on today’s review, stay tuned this Friday for the continuation of “Jack Ryan Month.”