Black Dynamite is a rare genre of movie, the send-up/self-parody; other films in the genre being "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra" and "Mars Attacks!". The point of these movies is to simultaneously pay tribute to and poke fun at movie genres, without ever getting too silly. The genres in question here are blaxploitation flicks and crummy police movies (think "Mitchell") of the 1970's. This movie pulls off the parody almost perfectly.
The movie centers around Black Dynamite, an all-the-time macho guy. In typical cop movie fashion, his brother is killed by drug dealers, so Dynamite starts a war on drugs, so he can avenge his brother's death. The plot gets really loopy and nonsensical from there, as most movies like that tend to do. The storyline is intentionally campy, though, and it's quite funny. The dialog in particular is really amusing, ranging from jilted-sounding exposition, to the constant use of "Can you dig it?". The parody is dead-on, from beginning to end, down to the cheesy cinematography and overuse of sweeps and fades. The action scenes are over-the-top ridiculous, and the sound effects are laughably terrible, too. There's even a touch of sepia-tone to some of the interior shots, as is often found in old grindhouse movies.
While this is a very funny movie, there are times when it seems like the writers couldn't pass up an opportunity for a joke, and they come across as out of place comparison to the sense of humor of the rest of the film. There's a scene where Dynamite and his friends figure out what the motive behind the drug dealers was, ("Who makes M&M's? Mars! And what's Mars spelled backwards without the S?...) and while it's very humorous, it doesn't quite fit with the semi-serious tone of the movie. I say semi-serious, because the film almost never acknowledges the ridiculousness of itself, but instead acts like it's a serious action movie. When the movie does start to somewhat acknowledge itself, it definitely shows; the end fight scene between Black Dynamite and Richard Nixon seems almost like a knowing wink to the viewers. I'm not opposed to it, though, it works really well and is really funny; it's just that script-wise, it seems out of place.
Overall, this is a very, very funny movie, and good-quality one, too. Highly recommended.
Quality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5
IMDB Page- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190536/
January 21, 2012
January 16, 2012
Movie Review- Up the Academy
MAD magazine has occasionally tried to make forays into other mediums besides magazines, and it never really works. Up the Academy was their half-baked and silly attempt to cash in on the popularity of National Lampoon's Animal House. But is it really all that bad? For the most part, yes, but it has its moments.
The film opens and closes with very a creepy shot of a guy in an Alfred E. Neuman (MAD's mascot) costume. It gets better, though. But not by much. The humor here relies heavily on stereotypes, toilet humor, and occasionally some slapstick gags. These only work about half of the time, and it's strangely nothing like the sense of humor in the magazine that produced it. The main characters are mostly thin stereotypes, and the jokes revolving around their stereotypical personalities get old fast. It's worth noting that Ralph Macchio starred in this, in one of his earlier roles, and he's one of the only entertaining people in the whole thing.
The plot is very nonsensical, and somewhat reminiscent of the Police Academy movies, although this was released well before them. Basically, a bunch of misfit troublemakers get shipped off to military school and wacky hijinks ensue. That's pretty much it. The movie isn't completely bland, though, the first 40 minutes or so were fairly entertaining. After that, however, the humor starts to go flat. There's one strange thing worth noting, and it really took me out of the movie-watching experience; the soundtrack plays incessantly through the movie. While I liked the style of music (late 70's rock and post-punk), it plays far too much. There were several scenes throughout the movie that would have played out a lot better if there wasn't a song playing in the background. The effects, while few, were pretty cheap, and consisted mostly of old stock footage. I get the feeling this was meant to be played for laughs in some scenes, but it still makes the movie look pretty shoddy.
Overall, this is a very hit-and-miss movie. When it's funny, it's very, very funny. When it's bad, it's really terrible. It certainly isn't horrible, but it's nothing special, and not really worth watching. I wouldn't recommend it. The first three Police Academy movies are a much better alternative if you're in the mood for a "bunch of wacky characters in a not wacky setting"-type movie.
Enjoyment: 3/5
Quality: 2/5
IMDB Page- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081695/
The film opens and closes with very a creepy shot of a guy in an Alfred E. Neuman (MAD's mascot) costume. It gets better, though. But not by much. The humor here relies heavily on stereotypes, toilet humor, and occasionally some slapstick gags. These only work about half of the time, and it's strangely nothing like the sense of humor in the magazine that produced it. The main characters are mostly thin stereotypes, and the jokes revolving around their stereotypical personalities get old fast. It's worth noting that Ralph Macchio starred in this, in one of his earlier roles, and he's one of the only entertaining people in the whole thing.
The plot is very nonsensical, and somewhat reminiscent of the Police Academy movies, although this was released well before them. Basically, a bunch of misfit troublemakers get shipped off to military school and wacky hijinks ensue. That's pretty much it. The movie isn't completely bland, though, the first 40 minutes or so were fairly entertaining. After that, however, the humor starts to go flat. There's one strange thing worth noting, and it really took me out of the movie-watching experience; the soundtrack plays incessantly through the movie. While I liked the style of music (late 70's rock and post-punk), it plays far too much. There were several scenes throughout the movie that would have played out a lot better if there wasn't a song playing in the background. The effects, while few, were pretty cheap, and consisted mostly of old stock footage. I get the feeling this was meant to be played for laughs in some scenes, but it still makes the movie look pretty shoddy.
Overall, this is a very hit-and-miss movie. When it's funny, it's very, very funny. When it's bad, it's really terrible. It certainly isn't horrible, but it's nothing special, and not really worth watching. I wouldn't recommend it. The first three Police Academy movies are a much better alternative if you're in the mood for a "bunch of wacky characters in a not wacky setting"-type movie.
Enjoyment: 3/5
Quality: 2/5
IMDB Page- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081695/
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