Shaft

Plot synopsis:
NYPD Detective John Shaft II (Samuel L. Jackson) is called in to investigate the racially motivated murder of Trey Howard (Mekhi Phifer), committed by Walter Wade, Jr. (Christian Bale), the son of a wealthy real estate tycoon. Shaft briefly meets a potential eyewitness to the murder, Diane Palmieri (Toni Collette), but she disappears soon after and cannot be found for the trial. Wade is released on bail and flees to Switzerland.
Two years later, Wade returns and Shaft rearrests him for leaving the country. During his temporary incarceration at police headquarters, Wade meets Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright), a Dominican drug lord. Wade relinquishes his passport and is released on bail again; in frustration Shaft resigns from the police force, promising to bring Wade to justice on his own terms. Worried that Shaft might find the missing eyewitness, Wade hires Peoples to find and kill her first.
Shaft continues his search for Diane, enlisting the help of his friends Detective Carmen Vasquez (Vanessa L. Williams) and taxi driver Rasaan (Busta Rhymes). While visiting Diane's uncooperative mother, Shaft and Carmen realise they are being followed by officers Jack Roselli (Dan Hedaya) and Jimmy Groves (Ruben Santiago-Hudson), who have been paid by Peoples to follow Shaft and get to Diane. Shaft finally finds her, but before they can talk, they are attacked by Peoples's men. In the shootout, Shaft kills Peoples's younger brother. Shaft, Diane, Rasaan, and Diane's brother manage to escape to Rasaan's apartment, but they are followed by Roselli and Groves. While at the apartment, Diane confesses that she saw the entire murder, and kept silent in return for a payoff from Wade's father.
When Peoples arrives at the location, another shootout takes place. Roselli and Groves, outed as corrupt, are killed by Carmen. In a face-off between Shaft and Peoples, Peoples insinuates that he's been working for Wade, and Shaft kills him. Wade's trial finally arrives. Before it can begin, however, he is gunned down by Trey's mother, Carla Howard (Lynne Thigpen). In the police station, Shaft reiterates to Carmen that he prefers to be a private detective. A woman arrives, asking for Shaft to help her, claiming to have an abusive boyfriend. Shaft is initially reluctant, but when he sees her injury, he decides to help her anyway. Shaft, along with his uncle, John Shaft I (Richard Roundtree) and Rasaan, go together to confront the abusive boyfriend.

Tags: comedy, neo noir, murder, cult, violence, revenge, blaxploitation

Review:
He provides some of the comic relief, taking some strain off of Jackson.I thoroughly enjoyed Isaac Hayes' Oscar-Winning theme, which plays throughout the movie.This Shaft is a great movie for anyone who's a fan of the original, Sam Jackson, or great action movies in general..
Jackson seems to be having the time of his movie acting life portraying the title character in `Shaft,' John Singleton's take on the groundbreaking classic that, on its release in 1971, served as the blueprint for all the `blaxploitation' films that filled theatres throughout the early and mid 1970's.
Unfortunately, the concept of a rogue black cop, defying the rules and doing things his own way, is not as fresh as it was back in the time of the original film, so this new version of `Shaft' has less to recommend it.
Jackson actually plays the nephew of the original Shaft and, indeed, Richard Roundtree makes a cameo appearance early on in the film as Jackson's seasoned mentor.
Singleton wisely uses the original Isaac Hayes recording of the hit song as background for the film's opening credit sequence and backs up many of the action scenes with an impressive instrumental interpretation as well.The story offers little that is new for this particular genre whose films often rise or fall based on the quality of the foils against whom the hero must ultimately contend.
Luckily, the filmmakers are blessed with not just one but two impressive villains  Jeffrey Wright as Peoples Hernandez, a tough talking thug who wants to expand out of the little neighborhood kingdom he has established into the big time of upper class drug dealing, and Christian Bale as Walter Wade, Jr., the racist, spoiled-brat son of a New York City magnate whose hate crime killing of an innocent black man sets the plot in motion and serves as fodder for Shaft's personal vendetta.
Bale proves definitively that the quality of subtle, soul-cringing evil he brought to his role in `American Psycho' was no fluke and that he can be as effective in a big budget extravaganza like this one as he is in a smaller scale, far more quirky work like `Psycho.'  Vanessa Williams, on the other hand, who plays Shaft's partner and who is almost unrecognizable buried under a dark beret, fails to distinguish herself either in her role or in her performance.Then we have Mr. Jackson himself.
I liked Richard Roundtree, Pat Hingle and Gordon Parks' cameos(look fast for him, as Mr. P in the bar!)  This one isn't meant to be taken too seriously, the car chases and shootouts are right outta anything Dirty Harry has done-but you know, John Singleton sez he intended for this to be a popcorn movie, and I agree, he has hit the bullseye with this.And that Isaac Hayes score, gotta love it!*** outta ****, go see it and have fun..
(There is a cameo by the original director of the 1971 "Shaft," Gordon Parks, in a bar scene, if you are lucky--a white haired older black man at the table.)The other terrific actor is Jeffrey Wright, playing a drug king with enough realism and panache to make it real and glitzy both.
The third main character is the future Batman, Christian Bale, who is a great bad guy and who you actually miss in the last parts of the movie.What really brings this down to earth, and too much so, is the story, which is boilerplate stuff.
Sam Jackson plays Shaft's nephew, a big-city cop trying to track down a reluctant witness to a racially motivated murder.
Jackson is silky smooth, the action is right out of a DIE HARD or LETHAL WEAPON flick, and the landscape is populated by some great supporting players including Dan Hedaya as a corrupt cop and Vanessa Williams as a cop who has Shaft's back.
Jackson, this time cast as Shaft, a tall, tough, elegant black dude who looks like Samuel L.
well, obviously, Samuel Jackson wanted to show that he could play "black"; but I don't know who ever doubted that.The original Shaft suffered from a lack of proper pacing, due largely to the editor's uncertainty as to where that film was going.This film suffers from the fact that - being a borrowed story all around - the story itself isn't sure where it's going.Well, it's nice to see Richard roundtree on the big screen again - a wholly underrated and type-cast actor, he deserves more and better roles..
Jackson (a.k.a. Shaft), also is "American Psycho" Christian Bale (as Walter), at the end almost likable character, for which you almost fell sorry.But, all in all the con's are bigger than pro's, especially because of above mentioned racism, that's why a weak 5 out of 10..
A nice cameo from the original Shaft.They should have left the tag line "Watch your mouth" as in the original, instead of what they used to "modernize" it, which didn't have quite the impact it could have.And that was a nice star-making role for the Cuban actor.It's actually a great cross-over movie.
Jackson) and botched the character development of 2 of the best actors in films, in Jeffrey Wright and Christian Bale.
Racist cop John Shaft (again the over rated Sam Jackson) thinks that he can break all the rules and beat up innocent people, well, this movie is a bit of something absurd.
Jackson is well cast in the titular leading role,and has a surprisingly small age difference between himself and Roundtree,who played the original and has a small role here as Shaft's uncle.And the Isaac Hayes theme tune remains one of the most funky,invigorating tracks ever.Where the movie falls short however,is in the plot department.Though clearly outlined,it is still told in a very incoherent manner,with one event not really lining up to the next.Still,it's really faithful and well-updated to modern times,and the action will keep you glued.***.
Although I haven't seen any of the previous three with this character it seems like this movie is more true to the style that seemed to prevail in these type of movies and therefore works much better than those movies that try to modernize(and make money) off of a popular previous theme.(Aka. Mission Impossible, the Saint etc...) Jackson is great as the womanizing yet tough cop with Richard Roundtree from the original playing his Uncle also adds to the movie.
Jackson as the titular character, a disgruntled cop that seeks justice after being assigned to a case of a hate crime perpetuated by Walter Wade Jr., the son of a wealthy man played by Christian Bale, who acts calmly knowing that he won't be punished because of his father's money that certainly lets him get away with murder, to the outrage of everyone, especially Shaft.
At some point a drug lord named Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright) gets involved in the plot, providing a new enemy for Shaft and an ally for Wade.
Jackson, Jeffrey Wright and Christian Bale, I would have probably given this movie a 5 star rating.
They had the funds, they had the means, they had some good acting crew, they even had a fine reputation of the previous Shaft, but somehow they managed to make only half a movie - the second half is barely watchable.The first half goes quite smoothly, introducing us with the main characters and the main plot.
Jackson is a great choice for the role of Shaft, but even his flawless appearance couldn't make this movie special, or even above average.This new Shaft lacks cunning and authority, making him nothing more than a regular cop who is trying to right the wrongs.
Remakes do work occasionally, case in point Shaft, John Singleton's update of the 1971 Blacksploitation movie that starred Richard Roundtree as the title character.
Plot finds Shaft turning in his badge after the law proves useless to let racist murderer Walter Wade Junior (Christian Bale a sneering villain but awesome looking in a tux) out on the streets.
Though he also has other things on his plate, namely Latino drug lord Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright a riot) and some less than honourable police officers.The screenplay is a little trite, but as an action movie, one with the coolness and sparky humour, it really hits the required spots of those just after such easy minded fare.
The support cast is a roll call of sound performers with the likes of Vanessa Williams, Dan Hedaya and Toni Collette fronting up, while the awesome ebullience of Busta Rhymes is very infectious.Isaac Hayes gloriously famous theme tune is still in place, pumped up by composer David Arnold, which ensures the feel of the original isn't lost, and Donald E.
This movie should really rock--John Singleton juicing up the classic '70s Shaft vibe with Samuel Jackson set in modern day New York.
(I should be honest and note that the two other viewers who had no prior knowledge of Blaxploitation films, Shaft and Richard Roundtree, etc., and thus had no hopes, expectations, or preconceived biases considered it passable entertainment.) My take is, ask yourself if you want to watch a totally run-of-the-mill vintage made-for-TV action movie, basically just updated by adding a whole lot of swearing (although I doubt this bothers too many people nowadays, and I could personally care less)--I really, really don't.
The hardest part about being a black cop is not getting shot by white cops when you pull your gun.The honkies in this action movie, however, know better than to mess with Shaft.When rich white boy Wade Jr.
But the accused is allowed to flee the country when the only witness (Toni Collette) goes missing.Unrelenting, Shaft spends the next two years searching for her.When he finds her, Wade Jr. serendipitously returns Stateside with a sadistic drug lord (Jeffrey Wright) on his payroll.John Singleton's much-maligned reboot of Shaft isn't as blasphemes as perceived, with Sam Jackson serving as a worthy successor to Richard Roundtree.Besides, young African Americans need to be exposed to influential Black icons before the CIA assassinates them all.Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca.
Walter enlists the help of drug lord gangster Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright) to find the waitress.Samuel L Jackson as Shaft is exactly as everybody expects.
Sam Jackson was pretty cool at certain moments and Christian Bale played a good, though a little beat of a déjà vu role.
Not to mention that there's no lovin' in this movie, apart from the title sequence.2) The film is a disturbing mix of real-life violence and racial issues (the key plot point is the murder of a young black man by a rich racist white guy) with a vigilante cop fantasy.
You see everyone white) in the movie is a racist (what a surprise coming from Singleton - SO different from his other films (please!)) and Shaft is the defender of justice against it.
One thing that I did like here is that they brought in Richard Roundtree as the uncle and he will be the all-time action hero EVER!!!,and they did bring in its director Gordon Parks in as a cameo appearance(who directed the first two SHAFT movies in 1971 and its sequel in 1972).
New York City police detective John Shaft (nephew of the original 1970s detective) goes on a personal mission to make sure the son of a real estate tycoon is brought to justice after a racially-motivated murder.This was a strange film.
Jackson is probably the only person who could have attempted to fill the role, so at least they cast as good as they could.But the movie is strange in general because of Christian Bale's character.
Jackson is here in one of his best roles ever as the black no-nonsense NYC detective John Shaft who's mean, yet good-hearted and caring in his own strange and rough way; he's especially kind toward the scared bar waitress, played well by Toni Collette.
(If having access to CGI is your only reason to remake a good film, history has shown us don't bother unfortunately the box office hasn't backed it up.) The funny thing is that if this was released as "Sam Jackson messes up a bunch of people' it might have been a bigger hit.Samuel L Jackson is the Shaft 2.0 (I assume that wouldn't be an accurate measurement), the original John Shaft is still working as a private eye and catches up with Sam occasionally, but new Shaft works in his own way – but thankfully is backed by the same immortal Isaac Hayes theme music.Shaft 2000 is a cop, a cop who does things his way; and as always 'but dammit he gets results (You stupid Chief!)'.In the film Shaft is on the case of the race-related death of a young black man allegedly at the hands of a rich white man named Walter Wade Jr (Christian Bale).An open and shut case is stymied when the one key witness – a waitress named Diane Palmieri (Toni Collette) goes into hiding once she realises that Wade will use whatever means necessary to ensure she doesn't talk.Wade Jr is the son of a rich property developer, he is aloof, pompous and arrogant.
At one point Wade Jr basically throws offers of assistance back in his wealthy Father's face When Wade jumps bail and skips the country Shaft momentarily loses his famous cool, getting busted back to working the streets as a result.This brings him into the radar of a vicious small time kingpin named Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright).
It also shows that there are shonky operators on all sides, and that is seems nothing will go the way anyone plans.The last third of the film degenerates a little, with the true motives of all involved out in the open, gone is the complex posturing and positioning of the various sides in favour of car chases and shootouts with the usual 'bad guys can't shoot straight – good guys don't miss' rules.It's not important but I can't not mention Busta Rhymes as Shaft's off the books man on the street.
He didn't really need to be in the film other than to provide a loud and lively counterpoint to Shaft's low key cool, but it proves Busta can act – a good thing because his hip-hop career has been abseiling a little in the last 5+ years.Shaft isn't great, it is a little too convoluted at times and I could have used a little less of the forced race-related 'humour', but it is better than I expected and Shaft is indeed The Man.The film made some money, Sam Jax is always a solid box office draw and a fair indicator that the film will be entertaining – so I guess I'm flummoxed that this film didn't warrant a sequel.
Christian Bale is his nemesis as Walter Wade, Jr., who is a racist, spoiled rich kid.Wade hooks up with Peoples (Jeffrey Wright) and Shaft has his work cut out for him trying to find his witness (Toni Collette).
Sam L Jackson plays john shaft the nephew of the original shaft who even appears in the film.
I haven't seen the original shaft movie so I don't know witch one is better but this version is certainly good.
Samuel plays john shaft a tough but cool detective who is out to stop a racist killer played well by Christian bale who is also working for a Latino gangster and drug lord.
ghetto films are not normally My kind of film but I really enjoyed shaft it was a fun and well crafted film Samuel does a good performance as ultra cool john shaft and Christian bale makes a good villain even Busta Ryhmes is good as a sort of comic relief character.Direction is done well by John Singleton and good action makes shaft an enjoyable ride 7 out of ten.
And although he tries his best he is unable to give Shaft a good story.He stars as the lead detective and with his quick wit, sharp dialogue and racist jokes he captures the spirit of the infamous black icon perfectly.The problem throughout is Jackson's supporting actors and mostly the story.I have no idea why Busta Rhymes was chosen because he simply cannot act and Jeffery Wright is unable to pull off a decent performance which downgraded me liking for him which was a shame because I thought he starred well in Ali.The story is the main problem.
Let me start by saying that I've never seen anything related to the original Shaft, but I'm pretty sure that this tribute/remake doesn't do it justice."Shaft" obviously wants to be a cool action movie, but ends up being very mediocre in every aspect.
This is a great movie that is 'shafted' (wink :) ) by some people who either A) Compare it to the original or B) Look too deeply into the story.
The plot is fairly simplistic but good: A white, racist rich kid named Walter Wade(Christian Bale) murders a black man outside a bar in New York.
Although it's been said so many times, I'll say it again: Samuel L Jackson OWNS the role of John Shaft.
Jackson was wonderfully BADASS in the role of the nephew of New York's baddest mutha, John Shaft (Richard Roundtree), who makes a cameo as the still-womanizing private eye.
This movie could have well been titled Payback 2 (or any action-packed title or character name for that matter), because the legacy of the original Shaft is no where to be seen in this film..
To all those people out there that think the original Shaft movies were great bits of film history, I say get a grip.
This new Shaft is a cop who can't get his man, a rich white snob(perfectly played by Christian Bale), and then quits his job and takes the law into his own hands.
If it wasn't for Sam "the man" Jackson playing Shaft this would be Wright's film.
The new Shaft takes on two interesting bad guys well played by Christian Bale and Jeffrey Wright.
The first Shaft movie was the only blaxploitation film that I liked.