REVIEW - Black Dynamite

You may never have heard of Black Dynamite but there's a chance it could be the best comedy of the year.

A sometimes spoof of 70s Blaxploitation flicks, Black Dynamite sees the titular character out for revenge after his brother is killed. What follows is a pitch-perfect send up of the genre which mixes straight comedy, self aware spoof and fun action to dazzling effect. The film should be a mess of conflicting styles but everything, from the archive footage which supplements action scenes to continuity errors and some purposefully forced acting, comes together almost perfectly.

Much of this is down to screenwriter and star Michael Jai White, who brings gravitas to a role that could have been ridiculous while also acquitting himself well in the action scenes and creating some bizarre asides which comment on his own awesomeness. It's the perfect marriage of material and performance and the rest all support the carefully balanced tone, which makes Salli Richardson-Whitfield role all the more important as the only straight character in the bunch.

There are moments when the self-aware style begins to wear a little thin and we're not sure we needed an animated Zodiac themed sex scene but Black Dynamite is still the best comedy we've seen this year and worth the price of entry alone for the scene in which the team finally discover the truth behind the villains scheme.

5/5

Black Dynamite is showing exclusively at the Screen Cinema Dublin from the 3rd of September. Go see it!