Shaft

Rating:
Summary: Samuel Jackson Can Really Elevate A Film
Review: In the last few years, Smauel Jackson has proven that he can raise a film to a higher level. Shaft is no exception. Samuel Jackson's style of acting is so smooth that he can be looked at as cool regardless of the demographics of the audience. He can be serious and funny and that is a very appealing quality. The film's storyline has some interesting complexities but is somewhat ruined at the end with alot of Shaft's efforts gone to waste. Also the final chase scene is quite unbelievable as no one dies from hundreds of bullet shots and two devastated cars. None the less, this movie will keep your interest piqued just from Mr. Jackson alone.

Rating:
Summary: "What's My Name?" JOHN SHAFT!
Review: I don't know what to say. This was an AWESOME movie. If you liked the original Shaft, you will NOT be dissapointed in this modern classic. Sam Jackson is so damn cool and he pulled this Shaft off like only HE could. He's cool. He's smoothe. He's the Man. He's JOHN SHAFT. Go see this as soon as possible. It is a great action movie. It's funny, exciting, and just plain fun to watch. Why the hell haven't you seen it yet anyway?

Rating:
Summary: SHAFT Is One Bad Mother ("Shut Your Mouth!")
Review: This update of SHAFT is one the level with the original: good acting, good story, and good music. Samuel L. Jackson is John Shaft II (the nephew of the original John Shaft) a NYPD police officer who has a special way of dealing with criminals, but soon he quits his job and goes out on his own to bring down crime his "own" way. In this film update, Shaft has to go against a rich racist killer, a powerful drug dealer, and two corrupt cops---that's a lot of a** kicking for one man, and that man is John Shaft II! Can you dig it?

Rating:
Summary: The cat's still a bad muthashutyomouth after thirty years
Review: Shaft (John Singleton, 2000)
availability: in theatres

In this movie, the fifty-two-year-old Samuel L. Jackson takes on his hardest role yet: playing the nephew of a man who was supposedly born only seven years before he was. Still, the versatile Jackson manages to handle the job pretty well, I'd say.

That aside, this is about as much a kick back and enjoy the ride film as you're likely to see this year, and rightfully earns a notch- no matter what happens in the latter half of the year, on the ten-best list. Singleton decided not to remake the original Tidyman novel/screenplay, but instead drafted him to create a whole new plot, and a whole new Shaft, the nephew of the original played by Richard Roundtree (who, it should also be noted, was born in 1942, so he really WAS twenty-nine in 1971; and having seen the original movie as many times I have, I still can't believe he was that young). This Shaft is a homicide detective who lands a case that looks suspiciously like a race-related killing. We're handed the victim, the killer, and the witness within the first ten minutes; then the victim dies, the killer is granted bail (and skips to Europe), and the witness disappears. And we got us an action film.

Jackson, his trusty sidekick Rasaan (Busta Rhymes), and a nasty organized-crime type named Peoples Hernandez (a fantastic portrayal by veteran character actor Jeffrey Wright) one-liner their way through this script beautifully. Bullets fly, people get smacked, everyone wants a piece of the killer (slimily done by Christian Bale) for their own reasons, and the audience never once gets a chance to catch its breath. Which is just as it should be.

Many of the things about the new Shaft, as compared to the old, are things that the critics are knocking Singleton for, and there may be some credence to what they say, but I'm taking a different interpretation. The original Shaft was a highly-sexualized being who

seemed to want to solve cases as something to do in between trips to the sack with every woman he met; Jackson's character has one seemingly out-of-place sexual encounter, and then the sexual aspect of his character is shelved. Where Roundtree's character, upon meeting an out-and-out racist, rose to the bait and came back with double, Jackson only has time for one racist, and then only after the guy does him a favor (and the mutual respect between the two, by the end of that scene, is obvious). There are other little niggling things, but those are the two main ones. And most critics see this as a betrayal of the original character; I see it as the ways in which Tidyman and Singleton wanted to show that these are two different characters with two different agendas that are reactions to the societies around them. And, ultimately, that's what both the 1971 and 2000 models of Shaft are all about; holding a man up to a society and allowing him to reflect it back upon itself.

But who cares about the philosophy? It's time to let the bullets fly. And no one does that better than John Shaft-- either John Shaft. ****

Rating:
Summary: Samuel L Jackson Rocks!
Review: This movie was really cool, simply because of Samuel L Jackson. He was the Man, and Sam did a great job being a badass NY detective. The thing is, it just didn't seem real. Shaft seems so omnipotent as all bullets avoid him. As a cop, he was really smart and cool. As a person, he was angry, neat, and sometimes funny. Shaft tops all the rest. Joe Friday misewell star in a soap opera.

The rest of the movie was OK as well. The Dominican drug leader and the arrogant rich racist were really great, and the original Shaft being Sam's uncle was clever, too. But, the cliches were a-plenty, and the F-word was overused and so were the guns.

So, be a little aware. I gave this 4, but I wanted to give it 3 1/2.

Rating:
Summary: Nephew of Shaft
Review: The original Shaft that everyone knows and loves appears as just a minor (VERY MINOR) character. But please, whatever you do, do not let that ruin it for you. Samuel L. Jackson is John Shaft who is John Shaft's nephew. A bad ruiling in a case causes him to leave the police and become a vigilante of sorts. It is possibly the best action film of the summer along with "Mission: Impossible 2" ("Gladiator" is in a category of its own). Both movies are tremendous for they create two new heroes to compete with the James Bond movies (which until the latest one, have seen better days). I found Samuel L. Jackson to be beyond cool in this film. The film was just as good as I expected. Don't miss it.

Rating:
Summary: Mindless Black Revenge Drama, Boring
Review: Racist cop John Shaft (again the over rated Sam Jackson) thinks that he can break all the rules and beat up innocent people, blow up the streets of New York and shoot anyone he wants to, well, this movie is a bit of something absurd. The direction is terrible, the action sequences are cliched and the "black brother" message doesn't really make sense because it falls flat by endorsing to kill all "honkeys". I would avoid this mess unless of course you are someone who feels that violence is necessary against innocent civilians.....



Rating:
Summary: Talkin' 'bout Shaft
Review: Police detective John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) gives up his badge in order to pursue a personal vendetta against a young, wealthy white racist (Christian Bale) who murdered a young black man (Mekhi Phifer) before skipping bail and leaving the country. The racist forms an alliance with a drug dealer (Jeffrey Wright) who wants his own revenge against Shaft as well as access to a wealthier clientele. Throw in some crooked cops and it's no surprise that the neighborhood has turned into a war zone by the end of the film.

This is a B-movie by A-list talent. Director John Singleton, who also co-wrote the screenplay with the talented Richard Price, hews closely to the genre formula but elevates it with the aid of his top-notch cast. One significant departure comes at the end, where the traditional action hero delivers the coup de grace, preferably to the accompaniment of a suitably contemptuous one-liner. Singleton has something much more interesting and powerful in store. The scenes between Wright and Bale-the tension between them and the way their characters jockey for the dominant position-are excellent. Nobody working in film today could portray John Shaft better than Jackson. A lot of fun to watch.


Rating:
Summary: A Fun , if Violent, Movie
Review: Lightweight storywise--but no more so than a modern James Bond movie--"Shaft" is nonetheless stylish and entertaining, even with some scenes of terrible violence. Samuel L. Jackson makes a worthy successor to the family legacy of being supercool, playing the same sort of urban 007 Richard Roundtree brought to life in the Shaft films of the 1970s. This time, the nephew of the original clashes with a brutal racist and a showoff drug kingpin who have joined forces to stalk the only witness to a savage murder. Director John Singleton keeps the energy constant, helped in part by Isaac Hayes' terrific theme and David Arnold's incidental music, though the occasional quick zoom gets annoying after a while. Taken as entertainment with a little social commentary, "Shaft" offers little to dislike, except, perhaps, the brief appearance by Roundtree, who also seems more mellow and unhip this time around.

Rating:
Summary: Oops.
Review: Sure, Samuel L. Jackson was a light in a dark place, but it was too dark a place! Shaft was a lousy remake that could have been great. Samuel L. Jackson was the saving grace of the movie, but it still isn't worth watching. I was very disappointed in how poorly it was made. Christian Bale delivered a cheesy and stupid performance, Toni Collete had a flat character, Vanessa Williams had kindof a pointless role, Dan Hedaya has had much better roles (Ransom, The Hurricane), and the only thing that seemed to come out of Busta Rhymes mouth every time that he spoke was the F word. Sam Jackson had a few cool lines, and he did the best that he could have with what they gave him, but it still didn't really work. This was a cheesy action movie. Although your kids would probably feel cool saying that they watched it, it is not something that they should see. The R rating is due to strong violence, pervasive strong language, and a brief sexual encounter. It isn't worth your time. For a good Samuel L. Jackson action alternative, watch Die Hard with a Vengeance.