Watching 'Shaft' 2019

Shaft (2019) is the third incarnation of the Shaft franchise that all exist in the same continuity, with the third generation Shaft taking the lead this time around. The film stars Jesse T. Usher (Level Up, Independence Day: Resurgence, Almost Christmas) as the third generation Shaft, Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers, Pulp Fiction, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace) as the second generation Shaft, and Richard Roundtree (Shaft, Brick, Speed Racer) returning to the franchise to reprise his role as the first generation, original Shaft. In addition, the film stars Regina Hall (Girls Trip, Scary Movie, Law Abiding Citizen), and Alexandra Shipp (Love, Simon, X-Men Apocalypse, Straight Outta Compton) as supporting characters. The film is directed by Tim Story (Barbershop, Think Like a Man, Fantastic Four), and is written by prolific TV writers Kenya Barris (Girls Trip, Black-ish, Barbershop: The Next Cut) and Alex Barnow (The Goldbergs, Mr. Sunshine, Rule of Engagement). The film has a runtime of 111 minutes and was distributed in the UK by Netflix.

Starting right off with the narrative, it revolves around John Shaft Jr., who along with his childhood friend, is convinced their best friend did not die of an overdose and was in fact murdered. Not getting too far, he decides to ask for his estranged father, Shaft, for help, and the duo wreak havoc on the city 'til they are joined by John Shaft Sr. as well. I can say that it is incredibly predictable, cliched, and for the most part unimaginative, as it sticks very closely to the formula of a police murder mystery that we have seen countless times before. The twists are highly telegraphed, and there is a distinct lack of suspense and tension. Thankfully, the film does not linger on these points overly long, as they breeze through them to get to the next point in the film without much delay. It was also great watching how Shaft Jr. transformed steadily over the course of the film to become a true Shaft.

The real highlight of the film are the actors and the characters that they portray. The interaction between Shaft Jr. and Shaft are fantastic; in fact, Samuel L. Jackson steals the entire film with his performance. Throughout the film, you get the distinct sense that the actors are all having fun, and that energy oozes out of the screen, and it is this very same energy that allowed me to have as much fun as I did with this film. Regina Hall is definitely the next best thing in the film following Shaft, as she brings an energy that outdoes Samuel L. Jackson that perfectly compliments his performance. Once Richard Roundtree entered the film, the contrasting personalities made for an interesting dynamic that made watching each scene fantastic. With all that being said, when comparing to these three performers, the younger generation pales in comparison, making it seem as if they are out of their depth at times while managing to keep up for the most part; however, this becomes less and less noticeable as we get towards the end of the film.

Visually the film looked perfectly fine. There was hardly any shaky cam used, which was quite welcome as it allowed for me to actually have the ability to keep track of what was happening on the screen without straining my eyes. There were times when watching the film where upon looking at the screen, it had the distinct feel that it was a TV film as opposed to one that was meant to be on the big screen, and so because of that, I can understand why it was that this film was released on Netflix here. The music was appropriate for the feel that this film was going for, blending modern, hip hop, and trap music with distinctly classic 70’s and 80’s aesthetics to the soundtrack.

In closing, is this a good film? No. However, the performances of the actors really do make this film quite enjoyable to watch, and so my recommendation is to watch it if you have nothing else to watch for two hours and you are in the mood to have a good time spending time with these characters, as opposed to actually enjoying a film.