Based on the box office, I might have been one of the very few to see and really enjoy 2019's "Shaft" reboot featuring three generations of the Shaft family.
It made me realize I had never seen the 2000 sequel to the original Richard Roundtree trilogy, SHAFT.
The effortlessly cool Samuel L. Jackson stars as Roundtree's nephew John Shaft, a NYC police detective who walks away from his badge in his quest for justice.
A young Christian Bale is vile as rich yuppie Walter Wade Jr, son of a mega-wealthy real estate tycoon. After junior viciously attacks and kills a man in a racially repulsive assault, Shaft makes it his personal quest to bring him to justice.
Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, Knives Out) is a waitress and lone eye witness to the attack. Deep in hiding, both Shaft and Wade Jr are trying to get to her.
Dan Hedeya (Blood Simple) and Vanessa Williams are a lot of fun and offer intrigue as fellow detectives, but its Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale, Westworld) who steals the show with an outlandish, hilarious and flawless performance as Peoples Hernandez, a drug kingpin in the middle of the action.
Peoples deserves his own spinoff!
Jackson is perfection as the new Shaft generation and his scenes with Richard Roundtree as his legendary uncle will leave you with a grin on your face.
Issac Hayes classic music is woven throughout by composer David Arnold (Tomorrow Never Dies) and Shaft fans will spot Gordon Parks, director of the 1971 original in a bar scene.
A disappointment at the box office, this was the last Shaft film until 2019's update with yet another generation of young detectives, which I loved. It's one of the sleepers of the past year, but bombed badly, likely dooming the classic crime thriller character for decades to come.
For me, this 2000 entry stands up well in the series, with 1972's "Shaft's Big Score" and the original at the top of the heap.
Jackson, Wright and Bale drive this entry to an enjoyable, action packed B.
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