BEFORE: Well, if I'm not going to follow the Peter Dinklage connection (Link-lage?) I've got to fill the spaces between here and Mother's Day somehow, so Regina Hall carries over from "Death at a Funeral" and I've got room for a Samuel L. Jackson Fest. Well, almost, I'm going to have to double-up to fit all the movies in, but it's the weekend, and I can do that.
It's quite possible that Mr. Jackson is already in the lead for appearances overall over the last 13 years - he's been in at least 50 films since I started doing this, but that's not counting archival footage used in documentaries - the IMDB and I differ on this point, whether that constitutes an "appearance". But movies about movies love to use clips from "Pulp Fiction" and such - either way, he's very prolific, and I just don't have time to really sort through everything and confirm just how many times he's been on my screen, so it's easier to just say he's the champion, and he's pulling further ahead this week.
FOLLOW-UP TO: "Shaft" (2000) (Movie #2,932)
THE PLOT: JJ Shaft, a cyber security expert with a degree from MIT, enlists his family's help to uncover the truth behind his best friend's untimely death.
AFTER: Well, it was 19 years since the last "Shaft" movie - the franchise has no need of numberings its sequels or giving each one a distinctive title, like "Halloween", it's much too cool for that - so that's just enough time for John Shaft Jr. to have formed a relationship, fallen in love with his baby mama, broke up with her for her own protection, and been an absent father to an almost-adult son. That son finds a different way in to law enforcement, by being a computer nerd and data analyst working for the FBI.
This sets up both a buddy-cop comedy with a twist (father & son from two different worlds working together) as well as a fish-out-of-water thing, with JJ Shaft from the suburbs forced to navigate the underworld of Harlem, NYC. No amount of research can prepare him to walk a mile in his father's footsteps, let alone his grandfather's (grand-uncle's?). The year 2000 was a much different world, and that goes double for 1971. (I know, I know, as I pointed out about a week ago, I still haven't seen the original "Shaft" film, that's on me. I could link to it from here, but then I'd have no link back to current films - which is a bit of a shame, that film turns 50 this year.)
JJ's got a friend who works with ex-veterans and struggles with addiction, and he's assigned to investigate a mosque in the Bronx with possible ties to terrorism, all of this feels a bit too trendy, perhaps, but making peace with his father shows him that maybe the old ways are the best, kicking down doors and getting into gunfights. But, are they, though? He's also not the kind of man who would put the moves on his childhood crush, he'd spend eternity worshipping her from afar, and in that case, at least, his father inspires him to go for it.
It would be too easy, though, plus very non-PC if the mosque really were a front for terrorists and drug dealers, so of course there's a "Law & Order" style twist that connects back to Shaft Jr.'s long-time nemesis, and also involves rousing Shaft Sr. from his decades-long hibernation. But once you get three John Shaft's together, naturally they're unstoppable, and even cool-but-slightly-unreliable technology can't get in their way and prevent them from shooting up the bad guys. There will be a whole Avengers-style team of SuperShafts before too long at this rate. Still, it satisfies the requirements for keeping the franchise going, even if somebody can't be bothered to number the sequels. I wonder how much confusion this creates among different generations of movie-goers?
Also starring Samuel L. Jackson (last seen in "Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump"), Jessie T. Usher (last seen in "Independence Day: Resurgence"), Richard Roundtree (last seen in "Brick"), Alexandra Shipp (last seen in "Love, Simon"), Matt Lauria, Titus Welliver (last seen in "Promised Land"), Cliff "Method Man" Smith (last seen in "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot"), Isaach de Bankole (last seen in "Norman"), Avan Jogia (last seen in "Zombieland: Double Tap"), Luna Lauren Velez (last heard in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"), Robbie Jones (last seen in "Fantasy Island"), Aaron Dominguez (last seen in "Like a Boss"), Ian Casselberry (last seen in "Get Out"), Almeera Jiwa, Amato D'Apolito, Leland Jones, Chivonne Michelle, Tashiana Washington (last seen in "Straight Outta Compton"), Sylvia Jefferies, Whit Coleman, Adrienne C. Moore, Sawyer Schultz,
RATING: 6 out of 10 inappropriate Christmas presents
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