I am so bummed. So horribly horribly bummed. I wanted to love Black Dynamite. I really did. I wanted it to be a movie I would be excited recommending to friends unfamiliar with Blaxploitation. Sadly though, I cannot. But, that was the bad news. The good news is that any fan of the genre will like this movie, just don't expect to be able to share it with "outsiders."

The idea is as golden as Cleopatra Jones: make a movie that pays homage to the greatest Blaxploitation films of all time. It would be written, produced, directed and acted as though it was a legitimate 1970s film.

The plot is basically lifted from a number of Rudy Ray Moore films, including Dolemite, The Human Tornado, and The Disco Godfather. Like other famous pimps who preceded him, Black Dynamite is called upon by the authorities to bring down a criminal drug syndicate after his own brother, Jimmy, ODs on smack. And through some classic Blaxploitation reasoning, Black Dynamite also uncovers the terrible secret behind Anaconda Malt Liquor. Ultimately, he must use his CIA training and kung-fu mastery to kill his way up to the top until he faces "The Man" for his final vindication.

Along the way, Black Dynamite runs into other Blaxpoitation stalwarts like Honey Bee, his bottom bitch, a streetwise penny pimp named Cream Corn, and Bullhorn, a rhyme-spitting overweight pimp who is an obvious nod to Rudy Ray Moore himself. I even counted 2 boom mic shots. After all, back then it was all about the single take.

But Blaxploitation is far too broad a genre to attempt to pay tribute to in one film. I'm Gonna Git You Sucka did a great job because it stuck to the militaristic side. But, a slick talking pimp doesn't fit in a movie like Slaughter and Fred Williamson could never have played Youngblood Priest in Superfly. So when Black Dynamite begins the film as a kung-fu pimp and ends it as Rambo, it just seemed too incongruous... even for a Blaxploitation film! But that's me being nitpicky. I suppose you can attribute some of my initial dislike to personal preference. I am partial to pimps.