LogFAQs > #972278587

18. Gavs
After his informant brother is killed when his cover is blown, Blaxploitation hero, one man army and all-round cool cat Black Dynamite seeks revenge against his brothers killers. As he works his way up the chain, he eventually uncovers a nefarious conspiracy by The Man that goes up to the highest levels of the US government.

The obvious comparison in this ranking is Austin Powers, since both films are throwbacks to an earlier decade the 70s in this case. Both characters are also highly competent despite their silliness, not to mention irresistible to most women. From here, the two films diverge a bit more. Where Austin Powers spends some time fleshing out secondary characters and making them as memorable as Austin himself, Black Dynamite focuses mostly on the man himself, with many other characters being interchangeable or only appearing in one scene. Black Dynamite has less of a character arc than Austin did, a man displaced from his own time and having to acclimatise to a world that had changed and moved on without him.

In its favour, Black Dynamite has some decent fight scenes, which arent played entirely for laughs like the ones in Austin Powers. Michael Jai White is an expert in seven different martial arts styles, and he gets to show off his skills here. While Austin Powers is ridiculous from the start, the stakes of Black Dynamite start relatively grounded, then get gradually more ridiculous as he works his way up the villain hierarchy, culminating in the visits to Kung-Fu Island and the White House. Black Dynamites cinematic inspirations also influence the presentation, with things like deliberately cheesy performances, errors left in the final cut (the most noticeable one being a car continuing to roll forward after a bad guy has parked to shoot out of it) and the use of the same stock footage whenever a car explodes, with the two cars looking nothing alike.

The two films tackle similar themes, but there are differences in the approach they take, and which ones preferred will come down to the individual. With that in mind, Ill give this one to Austin Powers because that film isnt depending entirely on Austin for laughs, although there are areas where Black Dynamite is the superior of the two. If the two characters were to meet, Black Dynamite would definitely win the fight, then he and Austin would become friends and pick up all the ladies with their combined unstoppable sexual prowess. Now thats a crossover I can get behind!

19. Plasma
Give this movie creditit has more Kung-Fu Treachery than any other movie on this list. It also does a nifty job picking apart various crime tropes like melodramatic flashbacks, As-You-Know-Bob dialogue exchanges, and dying-buddy monologues. A lot of annoying cliches get skewered here, and the chalkboard brainstorming session is gold, Jerry, gold.

But for all the meta stuff BD does well, the movie as a whole feels clunky to me. The pacing is all over the place, and I found myself checking the clock again and again. Stylistically, the easiest movie to compare this one to is Not Another Teen Movie, but while NATM brought me constant joy, BD was too stop-and-go for my tastes. At least it ends pretty hilariously with the whole White House siege. D+

19. Mythiot
Very entertaining pastiche of blaxsploitation cinema about former C.I.A. agent, Vietnam vet, kung-fu master, and all-around cool guy Black Dynamite investigates his brothers murder, keeps drugs out of the hands of orphans, and uncovers a conspiracy so despicable itll make you shrink with fear. All while bedding all kinds of beautiful women. Its dumb, meandering, and doesnt always work, but its got plenty of great action and attitude to make up for it. The crazy train of logic that leads BD and company to find out the Mans evil plan and the final showdown with Tricky Dick himself are the highlights.