“Death Race 2000” is notable, not only for being one of the best cult action films ever made, but for the amazing foresight it showed in being one of the many fictional tales predicting the entertainment of the twenty first century. Sure, video game violence and reality television were established before the twenty first century, but it didn’t become prevalent and common until much later, when the extremes for entertainment were established as norms for amusement. “Death Race 2000” is a prophetic and darkly genius action thriller that pinpoints the very nature of human illness and how we view violence as nothing more than a mortal hurdle we can ignore in the face of rewards.
Director John Singleton’s “Shaft” is something of a remake, but also a reboot for modern audiences. Fans of the seventies crime thriller with Richard Roundtree will recognize the name of Shaft, while modern audiences can enjoy the pure machismo of Samuel L. Jackson in an iconic role. Why it never became a full fledged movie series is not at all surprising. “Shaft” takes on all the beats of the action genre, with a lovable hero, brutal villains, interesting sidekicks, and enough action to satisfy easily bored audiences. The problem is, once “Shaft” is done, there simply is nowhere left to go with this character.
Up until “Black Dynamite” came along and proved me wrong, “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” was the best satire of blaxploitation movies ever made. As one of the very few comedies the Wayans brothers ever directed, “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” both mocks and pays tribute to the blaxploitation genre, harping on various tropes of the sub-genre from the seventies that filled many grindhouse theaters across the world. What makes “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” even better is that even if you have never seen a film from the sub-genre, you’ll still pretty much laugh until the final scene.
It’s hard to believe that at one point in time, Brendan Fraser was a bigger star than Adam Sandler. Where in Adam Sandler was a general up and comer in “Airheads,” Fraser takes top billing, even over character actor Steve Buscemi. While a childhood favorite, “Airheads” is one of those nineties comedies that hasn’t aged well at all. Surely, back then it was a fun film and has survived mainly by fans of Sandler, and nostalgiaddicts from the nineties, but objectively “Airheads” is a lame comedy that is sparse on laughs. I have fond memories of watching this movie repeatedly when it was on VHS, but these days it’s merely just a sub-par vehicle for its cast of character actors.
Where the first in the series of action films was a remake of “Point Break,” director Justin Lin’s “Fast Five” is an iteration of “Ocean’s Eleven.” This time around, Justin Lin assembles characters from the first four “Fast” films to combine forces and steal from the richest man in Rio De Janeiro. When Dominic is broken out of jail by his old friend Briand and his sister Mia, he disappears leaving his friends to wonder where he ended up. During a big heist involving boosting cars from a local drug lord Hernan Reyes, Dominic appears to help Brian and Mia complete the job. But all goes wrong, when the group’s cohorts decide to change the deal. Little do they know that within one of the car’s is a chip containing a crucial stats about Reyes operation.
“Ninja III: The Domination” encapsulates everything you loved about the eighties. There are ninjas, Sho Kosugi, Aerobics instructors, Lucinda Dickey with puffed hair and an Aerobics uniform playing an arcade in her house, a synth pop soundtrack, and yes, a callback to “The Exorcist.” To reflect upon the fitness-centric decade, Dickey’s character even seduces a man by pouring V8 juice down her body. Teaming a revenge film with a possession film, “Ninja III” is every bit the silly genre mashing I remember from when I was a kid. While I have fond memories of Lucinda Dickey being called upon by her floating sword back then, “Ninja III” watches surprisingly well today. It’s silly as all hell, but in the end it’s a fun eighties trip that you can’t help but smile through from beginning to end. And who didn’t love Ninjas back then?