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Shaft is outdated, cliched, and a hell of a lot of fun.
The Upside:
John Shaft is portrayed with the swagger and charisma that only Samuel L. Jackson (and of course Richard Roundtree) could pull off. The action sequences are all very well executed and the music throughout is fantastic. Shaft delivers on just about every level that you would expect from an installment of the franchise. There is also some good back and forth between JJ (John Shaft’s son) and John Shaft, and conflict between new school and old school. There are some humorous bits (although the humor is really hit or miss), and adequately progressing character arcs, especially that of JJ and Shaft’s father-son relationship.
The Downside:
The plot is nothing more than a meandering private detective story that has been done a thousand times before, and all of the acting aside from Samuel L. Jackson is just serviceable enough to pass as adequate. The humor throughout, although it does hit occasionally, constantly walks the fine line between clever and tasteless. The humor playing off of stereotypes, sexism, and homophobia feels incredibly outdated, and often uncomfortable.
The Verdict:
If you can look past the bland plot and borderline humor throughout Shaft, you are left with a very adequately entertaining action/crime flick with some effective humor. Samuel L. Jackson, without a doubt, carries this movie and it ends up being pretty fun to watch.
5.5/10
The Upside: Restaurant Shootouts / 3 Generations of Shaft
Downside: Homophobia/Stereotyping
🍿-Popcorn Movie
FlickFix 