Warner Bros has had a pretty rough year so far in 2019. Although films like "Shazam", "Detective Pikachu", and "It Chapter 2" did well enough, they weren't as big as the studio expected them to be. A lot of their films this year were box office failures with the likes of "Lego Movie 2", "The Kitchen", "Godzilla King of the Monsters", and so on. One of their films that failed to make a dent in the box office was a long awaited entry in the dormant "Shaft" franchise. People expected this to fail from the get-go, due to the franchise being irrelevant and Netflix distributing for international markets. Despite this, does this film have anything worth while? Well, the story is not one to write home about, that's for sure. John Shaft Jr. is an FBI agent who is investigating the death of his best friend. However, his personality gets him nowhere in the streets of Harlem, due to his awkwardness and politically correct attitude. So, he turns to his estranged father to aid him, a private eye that realizes that helping his son could finally bring down a drug lord that he has been hunting for the past 30 years. They would bond as father and son, despite them being complete polar opposites of their views and character. The problem with the story is that the case the characters are trying to solve is your generic template, where the crime is connected to a huge, convoluted operation that is just unnecessary. I feel that they should have just done a simple murder mystery, not taking down a drug cartel. However, comedies don't necessary need to have great stories to work. They help out a lot, but as long as the comedy and characters shine through, many can look past the flaws of the story. The comedy is really good, but it is raunchy and politically incorrect, since the funniest moments is whatever John Shaft says on his mind, which includes comments of homosexuality, misogyny, racism, etc. These aren't the most offensive jokes in the world compared to more adult content, but if you are offended easily, the film will trigger you. But, I will say that the film is guarantee to make you laugh more than once out loud.
Samuel L. Jackson always does a fantastic job in his performances and he plays John Shaft almost as if he was himself. When I watch the movie, I forget that Jackson is even the star actor as he gets so into the role that he becomes the womanizing, foul-mouthed detective. Jackson also brings out all of the comedy in the film to the point that he overshadows the rest of the cast. Jesse T. Usher plays John Shaft Jr. well, but he does feel pretty awkward in his delivery. I'm not sure if his performance is intentionally off-putting or not, but the character at least works off with the father-son dynamic the film goes for. Alexandra Shipp plays the love interest Sasha, and while I enjoy her in other films, she acts even more awkward in her line delivery than Usher is. Regina Hall plays Maya, the ex-wife of John Shaft. She's not in the movie too much, but she brings out a great performance with her emotional outbursts towards Shaft. Lastly, Richard Roundtree arrives in the third act as John Shaft Sr, the original Shaft from the films in the 70's. His presence and badass personality is just fun to watch and makes the third act from being dull to fine. As for the antagonists, I won't bother mentioning them at all, since they are really generic and no notable stars are attached to them. Other characters also have the awkward delivery that Usher and Shipp have, which really makes certain scenes a bit cringy to watch due to the poor line delivery. Overall, the characters are enjoyable in their own way and do work-off each other, but Usher and Shipp feel like the weakest links in the main cast, feeling like the unfunny side characters that appear in the film.
Tim Story did a solid job directing the film that shows off his talent in most areas, but is lacking in one crucial element. When it comes to the comedic scenes, they are well delivered and directed. Whether it's a joke based on dialogue or one that has Shaft spitting out the coconut water he just tried out, the comedic beats work nice if it involves Shaft and his son together. There is some very nice editing throughout the film, a notable example is the montage in the beginning of the film that shows time passing by with pop culture of the years presented along with seeing Shaft and Jr. growing up without each other. The songs used in the film are great hip-hop and R&B tracks that fit in with the setting of the film and the scenes as well. Story clearly has a vision for the film when it come to those departments, but the action scenes are really underwhelming. Although the music that plays with the action works, the action itself feels bland, barely violent, lame set pieces, and lacking of a particular style. The climax helps with Roundtree thrown in, but the action is still pretty disappointing. Story has plenty of potential as a director, but he really needed to improve in the action department, which is weird seeing that he previously directed the "Fantastic Four" films, which had some cool set pieces. At least by the end of the day, Story did a good enough job.
The "Shaft" franchise is weird to say the last. What started as three blaxploitation films in the 70's later got a soft reboot in the 2000's with Samuel L Jackson, to finally another soft reboot that turns to a more comedic route, ditching out the serious nature of the 2000 predecessor. Perhaps this is why no one went to see the new film due to the franchise being out of touch for audiences, but I'm a bit sad that it didn't get enough attention for what is a pretty entertaining film. Is this the best comedy of 2019? No, but it's far from being the worst. Sure, the story is bad, some actors are awkward, and the action is lame, but Jackson's charisma, comedy, editing, and soundtrack keep it engaging in my opinion. It's a film one has to see at least once before making a judgement against it. I will say that this film will make you laugh, that's for damn sure.
Verdict: 6.5/10. Decent film overall. I recommend a rent at least to see if this film is one you might enjoy or not.
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