Shaft

I know cats who'd take out whole zipcodes for that kind of cheese.

Remakes do work occasionally, case in point Shaft, John Singleton's update of the 1971 Blacksploitation movie that starred Richard Roundtree as the title character. Roundtree gets a part in this one as well, playing the uncle of Samuel L. Jackson's title character, John Shaft.

It's the perfect role for Jackson, lashings of cool and menace, on his bulky shoulders dose the film easily rest. Plot finds Shaft turning in his badge after the law proves useless to let racist murderer Walter Wade Junior (Christian Bale a sneering villain but awesome looking in a tux) out on the streets. Shaft vows to bring Wade to justice, by any means necessary. Though he also has other thing...

A black detective in Gotham desperately wants to nail a snooty racist murderer

The nephew of the original John Shaft is a detective in New York City (Samuel L. Jackson) where he tries to apprehend an arrogant racist killer (Christian Bale) by finding a key witness (Toni Collette) while dealing with a gang lord (Jeffrey Wright) and corrupt cops. Vanessa Williams is on hand as a helpful officer.

Shaft (2000) is a hip crime thriller that resurrects the franchise 27 years after the original trilogy from 1971-1973 that featured Richard Roundtree in the title role (he returns here as the aged uncle). The cast and filmmaking are fine; the problem is the lame story with which theyre shackled.

The key crime in the opening act is gla...