Shaft (2000)

I was surprised that I liked this remake of "Shaft" as much as I did. It has a wonderful ensemble cast, which included Toni Collette, Christian Bale, and the terrific, Jeffrey Wright. All of them are allowed to bring their considerable acting chops to their roles, especially Bale as a Hateful Rich White Boy from central casting, and Wright as a simultaneously hilarious and scary gangster. Samuel L. Jackson plays, well, Samuel L. Jackson, this time cast as Shaft, a tall, tough, elegant black dude who looks like Samuel L. Jackson – not that there's anything wrong with that.

Don't expect deathless art here but do expect to be entertained. It's one of those movies that is so politically incorrect it makes you gasp while you are laughing. There are lots of explosions, gore, and chases, both afoot and in cars, and it all happens in little more than 90 minutes. It's a lot of fun, highly recommended.

Fmovies: SHAFT is back and in a big way. Sam Jackson is perfect as the tall, smart-mouth, tough mother...watch your mouth! The audience went crazy. Cheering and laughing aloud. They loved it and so will the rest of America.

It is a little too violent in my opinion. But there are nice performances, especially from the Cuban new-comer actor who played the nemesis in it. A nice cameo from the original Shaft.

They should have left the tag line "Watch your mouth" as in the original, instead of what they used to "modernize" it, which didn't have quite the impact it could have.

And that was a nice star-making role for the Cuban actor.

It's actually a great cross-over movie. In other words even white people will like it.

"Shaft 2000" is a reasonable successor to the original Shaft of 29 years ago. The film shows restraint by keeping Shaft big, but not bigger than life, as it tries to be a human story first and an action flick second. Unfortunately, in spite of good performances (especially by Wright) and good production talent, the story fails on the human level and hedges on the obvious alternative of exaggerated good and bad guys and a profusion of gratuitous violence, sex, and action. Worth a watch but keep expectations low.

Shaft fmovies. An enjoyable but nevertheless quite silly and average remake of the classic television show has the new John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) beating up a white racist (Christian Bale) and getting booted off of the police force. Everyone in this film is a racist - primarily the whites - and this whole idea is way too forced. The language and violence is rough, yet the film itself is quite goofy, with not many good scenes and only a few mediocre action sequences. The moral is somewhat depressing: if someone wrongs you, or someone of your race, then beat them up and kill them once they reappear. Richard Roundtree's cameo helps a bit, but regardless, this SHAFT is still only "good" at best.

2.5/5 stars.

I liked this one alot-fast moving, funny, crude, violent at times, has the same old 'sphagetti Western' shooting style where the baddie can't hit the broadside of a barn with 400 rounds while Shaft takes'em out one shot at a time, never misses. Enjoyed Jackson in this mucho, this is some fine work by a kinetic actor in his prime. Vanessa Williams is easy on the eyes and a smooth actress in her own right, plus you have to give this Jeffrey Wright guy credit for doing a bang up job as a Puerto Rican(!!) villain(with a heart, sorta...). Bale as the Menendez Brother from hell is effective too. I liked Richard Roundtree, Pat Hingle and Gordon Parks' cameos(look fast for him, as Mr. P in the bar!)

This one isn't meant to be taken too seriously, the car chases and shootouts are right outta anything Dirty Harry has done-but you know, John Singleton sez he intended for this to be a popcorn movie, and I agree, he has hit the bullseye with this.

And that Isaac Hayes score, gotta love it!

*** outta ****, go see it and have fun.

I love this 1980s-style action flick, and watch it every time it is pops up on TV. Sam Jackson plays Shaft's nephew, a big-city cop trying to track down a reluctant witness to a racially motivated murder. The killer, played by a sinister, pre-BATMAN Christian Bale, is modeled on the New York preppie rapist (remember him?). He hires a low-level drug dealer (Jeffrey Wright) to track down the witness, a waitress (Toni Collette), and kill her. Shaft must find her before they do. Jackson is silky smooth, the action is right out of a DIE HARD or LETHAL WEAPON flick, and the landscape is populated by some great supporting players including Dan Hedaya as a corrupt cop and Vanessa Williams as a cop who has Shaft's back. The original Shaft, Richard Roundtree, even pops up a couple of times. This is one wild and funny ride that plays the way we prefer our action films to play. At times, it is a little thin on plot, but it keeps moving. No blood to speak of, just action, action and more action. And keep a close eye on Wright, a noted stage and screen actor. His soft-spoken drug lord tenderly holds a newborn baby at one moment and in the next pokes a knife into the neck of a terrified woman. He steals every scene he is in.