The
Shaft franchise has been one that's been present in film history since 1971 with the release of the first film which starred Richard Roundtree in the title role. What originally was conceived as a blackploitation film went onto become a cult classic spawning two other sequels prior as well as a 2000 sequel starring Samuel L. Jackson directed by John Singleton. While the 2000 film was fairly successful, it took 19 years for the franchise to take off again with another sequel. The new
Shaft film which also stars Samuel L. Jackson with Richard Roundtree appearing once again in this film as the older Shaft, attempts to bridge three generations of
Shaft characters as well as films together to celebrate the history of the franchise while extending it to a new generation. While that concept in itself isn't a bad idea, the end result with the films script leaves much to be desired with the film lacking the strong antagonists the 2000 sequel carried along with a more relevant plot. Despite the films rather disappointing script, the film is saved largely thanks to the performances and chemistry between Samuel L. Jackson and Jessie Usher in the leads along with a hilarious supporting role from Richard Roundtree.
Shaft 2019 is a flawed but fun entry in the series, that ultimately entertains despite a weaker script than its predecessors.
The plot for the new
Shaft centers around the return of the no-nonsense private investigator wearing a leather-clad jacket named Shaft as he attempts to connect with his estranged son JJ, whom he neglected most of his life. His son JJ Shaft, a cyber security expert with a MIT degree, enlists the help of his father whom he hasn't met before prior to uncover the truth behind his best friends questionable death. The plot for the new
Shaft is one that's primary focus is on the relationship between Shaft and his son leaving the rest of the plot with much to be desired. Gone from the previous film is the strong villains that the audience despised in the previous one played brilliantly by both Christian Bale and Jeffrey Wright. Also gone is Shaft's work in the police force as well as the commercial plot that the previous film had that made it appeal to a wide audience. While the 2000 film wasn't perfect, it did a fairly solid job of bringing the character of Shaft into modern times with a plot that was relevant and hit home regarding Shaft solving a race-related murder. The new
Shaft film lacks those core elements that would've really made it stand out and potentially be better than the film before it, but instead it feels like a step down and not worth the 19-year wait for fans of the franchise in some aspects. It can be argued that the new
Shaft film is a more personal portrait of the character rather than having him perform his detective work but even so, it doesn't help that outside of him trying to reconnect with his son, the story isn't very interesting and the humor which can often be hilarious for the most part can also come across as being rather homophobic, misogynistic, and politically incorrect at times (Though that might've been intentional to show the generational distinction between Jackson's Shaft and Ushers with Jackson's Shaft being out of touch with today's world which ushers Shaft resembles). Comparing the plot structure, character development, and villains from this movie to the 2000 one, Singletons movie for the most part did it better although Samuel L. Jackson's Shaft in this movie feels more like the traditional Shaft from the 1970's rather than the commercial one in Singleton's film.
The films greatest strength lies within its acting performances. Samuel L. Jackson and Jessie Usher steal the show with Jackson proving once again that he was born to play the role of John Shaft and nails it. Whereas his character was cool and collective in the 2000 movie yet felt restrained due to the aim to make the film appeal to a wider commercial audience, 2019
Shaft is more goofier, blunt with his commentary and thirst for women, and chooses to do whatever he wants without little to no limitations. Jackson gets free reign here as Shaft and delivers once again showing audiences that he's the perfect successor to Richard Roundtree in terms of playing the part. Jessie Usher does a very good job playing the nerdy son of Shaft, who holds a grudge against his father for neglecting him all those years while pretending not to care when seeking his help in solving his friends murder. It proved to be an interesting dynamic to see Shaft Jr. be much different than his father as the generational gap between the two characters clearly shows with the twist being Jr. slowly falling into his fathers footsteps. Regina Hall shines as Shaft's former love interest, who also pretends to not care about John Shaft but secretly still is very much in love with him. Richard Roundtree returns as the uncle to Samuel L. Jackson's Shaft with an interesting plot twist being that he's actually Jackson's Shaft's father but pretends to be his uncle (A clever way to bring all three generations of Shaft together and connect the films as sequels to each other). Alexandra Shipp does a nice job playing JJ's love interest Sasha with Titus Welliver being effective as an aggressive yet cliched chief Special Agent Vietti. Despite a messy script that feels seriously uneven at times and pasted together, the actors all bring their A game and make the experience a fun one to sit through.
In terms of the films directing and writing, Tim Story proves that he can work with an ensemble cast of actors though he's no John Singleton when it comes to crafting a story that's both entertaining but carries a weight of relevance to it. Story's primary focus here seems to be the relationship between Shaft and JJ as he centers the film around those two characters and builds off the stars chemistry. Unlike Singleton who brought a more serious tone to the plot with his film, Story chooses to embrace the wild nature of Shafts character and emphasize the generational gap between him and JJ. The moments where both main characters correct each other in terms of their attitudes and actions are moments the audience get their moneys worth but everything else leaves much to be desired. The screenplay by Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow is the films biggest downfall as it feels all over the place and not as straight-forward and consistent as Singletons movie. Whereas that film dealt with themes pertaining to hate crimes and the lack of justice when it comes to a murder of a person of color,
Shaft 2019 has none of those serious messages and instead focuses on primary troubled family themes such as abandonment, estranged fathers, parenting, PTSD, drug traffiking, veteran issues, Islamophobia, and drug addiction. Whereas the new
Shaft has important themes that are relevant to today's culture and political climate, the film makes little attempts to expand on those issues with the plot and instead focus on Shaft trying to be somewhat of a caring father even if he appears to be a bit clueless on how to achieve that.
Shaft 2019 wants and desires to be the sequel that reboots the
Shaft franchise for today's audiences compared to the 2000 film except John Singletons movie for the most part appears to be the better film in nearly every aspect other than giving audiences the proper version of John Shaft that this film delivered ironically. It also goes to show that Singleton is a stronger filmmaker than Story is and can blend popcorn entertainment with socially relevant themes.
Shaft 2019 doesn't suck, its just disappointing given it could've been a much better film than what it turned out to be and probably would've done much better with both audience reception and box office if it had a stronger script. Given how intriguing and innovative the character of Shaft was for his time in the 70's as well as being effective in the early 2000's, perhaps his character is a bit outdated now as his views on women and bluntness to say the most obscure things feels out of touch and awkward with his style of humor given today's climate. Perhaps that was an intentional move to showcase the distinction between John Shaft and J.J as the latter is more proper and respectful towards women as Shaft's character views them essentially as either trophies or meat. Despite how messy the script is, the overall film isn't terrible and is worth watching by fans of the series. However they shouldn't expect more than just mild fun with the main actors and not go in with much enthusiasm aimed at the plot as they will be severely disappointed. If one goes for the chemistry between Jackson and Usher with a strong supporting performance from Regina Hall and some reasonably good laughs depending on ones taste, the film will suffice as decent popcorn entertainment but won't be much more than that. It certainly doesn't have the stamp that other filmmakers placed on the franchise, it just serves as being passable with a noble attempt to bring three generations of a badass family tree together despite the overall outcome being a bit lackluster. Though seeing all three Shaft characters in action alone is worth the watch.
Final Verdict: Worth a Redbox to complete the Shaft trilogy but that's about it.
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