"SHAFT"
{2000}

Still "a bad mutha" 29 years later. Yes I'm talking about "Shaft". In this case there are two: (Richard Roundtree) the original "black private dick that's the sex machine to all the chicks", and now we meet his namesake nephew (Samuel L. Jackson).

Director John Singleton is right from the start, having Isaac Hayes' 1971 academy award winning "Shaft's Theme" playing as "Shaft"2000 begins. My, my, my, not since Travolta strode down the streets of Brooklyn have movie fans been treated to such a pleasuably masculine gait as Samuel L Jackson's. Long, lean and garbed in a black leather duster. Indeed a striking sillouette. And that smile---Con Ed should have such wattage!

NYPD detective "John Shaft" is working on a homicide/hate crime case. The victim "Trey Howard" (Mekhi Phifer) is an attractive young black man who is having dinner with a pretty blonde (Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell) and some other friends at a trendy nightspot. This doesn't sit too well with a patron seated at another table, NYC real estate scion and racist "Walter Wade Jr" (Christian Bale). "Wade Jr" makes his displeasure known to all within earshot. "Trey" and his friends try to ignore the guy and continue on with their evening and "Wade Jr's" friends try to get him to leave them be to no avail. "Trey" in a non-violent way (I won't go into specifics here so as not to spoil it) gets the better of "Wade Jr" and all but "Wade Jr" are amused. Moments later "Trey" is assaulted and dies. The police are summoned, and "Shaft" is on the scene.

I've not yet seen Christian Bale's performance in "American Psycho", but his work here is quite good. Jeffrey Wright's performance as coke dealer "Peoples Hernandez" is perfect. Very solid work. Rapper Busta Rhymes shows good acting chops too. Vanessa L. Williams as NYPD detective "Carmen" gets a thumb's up, though I would have liked her to have had more screen time. Nods to Toni Collette as the witness to the crime. The kind of work that deserves best supporting actress consideration. Lyn Thigpen as the murder victim's mom gives a brief but sincere and powerful performance.

One of my favorite things about this movie are the cameos. Again I'll not give specifics here so as not to spoil it, but I will tell you that Gloria Ruben (one of my hubby's favorites) looks stunning as always. Goodness that woman has a flawless complexion. I enjoyed the director's Hitchcock move (Mr. Singleton makes a cameo appearance) but look fast or you may miss him (I caught him but my hubby didn't :-) ). There is more violence than sex here, but that's o k. There is a lot of gunplay, but it's very cartoonish (I mean that in a good way). Save for the film's climax, "Shaft" and the other detectives are the only ones who do any substantial body count damage.

The Tidyman/Singleton script has a very natural flow, all the characters sound exactly as they should, and "det.Shaft's" catch phrases like "do you think that makes me more dangerous or less dangerous" and "it's my duty to please that booty" make it memorable.