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Say what you want about movies with lots of guns and harsh language, it's hard not to like anybody who can get away with spouting such testosterone-laden repartee as "you give me that attitude again and I'm going to drag you out of here by your hair." As John Shaft, who in this requel (remake/sequel) to the film that started the short-lived ascendancy of blaxploitation flicks in the early 70s plays nephew and namesake to the original title character, Sam Jackson milks each syllable for all it's worth. Give him some atmosphere -- "that Chow Yun-Fat coat-blowin' thang" -- which director John Singleton provides aplenty, along with a couple worthwhile villains and a meaty reworking by Isaac Hayes of his Oscar-winning title song, and it's all the inspiration he needs. He is a force of nature. He is the consummate badass. Look up "badass" in the dictionary, and you'll find his picture. Dial 1-800-1BADASS, and he will answer. Check Monster.com, and on the "Badass Resumes" page -- well, you get the idea.
This Shaft is a NYC cop instead of a p.i. -- initially, anway -- chasing down a racist murderer (Christian Bale, still fully wired into his American Psycho vibe), innocuously named Walter Williams, whose rich daddy pays bail and sends him on a long-term Eurotrash vacation. A couple years later Shaft catches him sneaking back into the country, but there won't be much of a trial unless an errant witness (Toni Collette, once again staking out a large presence despite not getting a whole lot to do) can be found. A curious quirk of fate entangles Williams with dangerous nutball drug dealer Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright, who played Basquiat), ensuring that Shaft has plenty of play-dates when he quits the force in disgust over a lenient judge and takes matters into his own hands.
The B-team is pretty interesting too. Uncle Shaft (Richard Roundtree, reprising his original role) shows up now and then to lend a little soul-grasshopper advice; Busta Rhymes plays younger John's reluctant backup; Vanessa L. Williams (hmmm...is this "L." some sort of secret code caucasians should know about?) is a long-suffering cop; and Dan Hedaya (Hurricane) is once again the kind of character he's getting typecast as, but further explanation would give away a marginal surprise.
You know what the new Shaft reminds me of more than any other recent film? Don't laugh -- Erin Brockovich. Because each one is the definition of "vehicle," carried by one actor's big-life, broad, smart-mouthed persona, capable of attracting a sizable white audience. The chief difference is, one character carries a gun, the other, underwire. Either is just as likely to go off and hurt somebody. B
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