The story of enterprising, drug lord Nino Brown (smoothly attired Wesley Snipes), and the dedicated team of cops attempting to bring down his crack empire (Remember, folks, as the great poet and scholar Whitney Houston once said, ‘Crack is Whack!’). These cops are led by Mario Van Peebles, and his street cops; reckless and oft-suspended Judd Nelson, and drug-hating Ice-T. It is the latter (who seems to know crack intimately) who takes a young crackhead (a young and truly superb Chris Rock) under his wing attempting to clean him up. This kid will later be a crucial part in the rule-bending street cops’ attempts at infiltrating Nino’s operations. Allen Payne is Nino’s long-suffering right hand man, Bill Nunn (one of the better actors from Spike Lee’s overrated “Do the Right Thing”) is cast somewhat against type as a stuttering thug, blaxploitation mainstay Thalmus Rasulala (still looking smooth and possessing the coolest name in cinematic history!) plays the police chief, and yes, that’s Nick Ashford of Ashford and Simpson (ask your parents!) as a corrupt politician.

Forget the overrated and egotistical “Do the Right Thing” (Spike Lee plays the only guy without prejudice? Oh, come on!) and the uneven “Boyz N the Hood” (Romantic subplot? ZZZzzzz), the two strongest African-American themed flicks of the late 80s and early 90s were Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” (his only truly great film to date, though I did enjoy his straightforward heist flick “Inside Man” for the most part) and this exciting, sometimes entertainingly schlocky, sometimes grimly honest 1991 Mario Van Peebles (director of the flat, black western “Posse”, son of actor-director Melvin, who came to prominence with the low-budget pre-Blaxploitation flick “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song”) urban crime flick. I found this story of urban criminal entrepreneurs feeding of the hopeless addiction of crack addicts to be far more realistic and affecting than say, a flick about wannabe thugs in the South Central ghetto, or racial tension in an Italian-American pizzeria in NYC. “Do the Right Thing” and “Boyz” always seemed rather insular and narrow in appeal to me, whereas this was more relatable to a white, non-American like me.

In the wrong hands, and certainly in white hands, this story could have come off as offensively stereotyped and racist (like the worst in the blaxploitation subgenre of the 70s- mind you, some of those are fun too!), but Van Peebles is man enough to say, no, this is definitely a real problem, black pushers are selling to black junkies, and I’m going to show all this, even if it paints African-Americans as gangsters and junkies. I mean, the cops are mostly black too, so there’s no problem there if you ask me, and this notion of a black criminal entrepreneur gaining power by destroying the lives of his people, is pretty potent stuff, even today in 2009. Van Peebles, if nothing else, deserves credit for being brutally honest and critical of his own kind instead of simply pointing the finger at whitey (and believe me, whitey has got a lot to answer for, and not just in the U.S. and not just towards people with dark skin!)

Snipes is commanding and charismatic as the enterprising but dangerous villain (his best work for my money was as the jacked-up killer in the sorely underrated “Demolition Man”), perhaps even better are an authentic and pugnacious Ice-T (a big acting break for the controversial, cop-hating Godfather of Gangsta rap, not to mention a reputed former gangb*nger- yes Epinions regards that as a naughty word- though he’s also worked as an advocate for troubled youth it must be said), and a frighteningly real Rock, whose subsequent poor attempts at acting make his truly unforgettable turn here seem even more amazing. He’s the one you’re gonna remember afterwards, he’s quite harrowing and affecting. Less effective are Nelson in an unnecessary role (why not just meld the Ice-T and Nelson roles into one?), and the director himself in a completely amateurish performance (something I often find myself saying about the man- look at “Highlander 3”, “Heartbreak Ridge”, and “Gunmen”, and then compare them to the good work he did in the biopic of his father, “Baadasssss”. Here he definitely suffers from Spike Lee Ego Complex).

The film has way too many endings (a scene between Snipes and Payne could’ve easily been removed), and is occasionally a little pulpy and melodramatic, but if you’re a blaxploitation fan like me, you won’t mind the latter so much as embrace it as a nod to yesteryear. Best of all, unlike some of Spike Lee’s films (think the dour “Jungle Fever”, featuring one of Snipes’ dullest performances), this one’s got some entertainment to go along with the message. Like John Singleton’s underrated “Higher Learning”, this succeeds greatly where other similar-themed/marketed films haven’t because it’s trying harder to entertain you than it is to enlighten you (i.e. There’s an anti-drug message, but the basic gangster movie requirements are the main priority of the film). The hip-hop/R&B soundtrack will definitely bring back memories to anyone who listened to music in the late 80s and early 90s (including an appearance on-screen by the inimitable Flavor Flav (boyyyyyyyyyyeeeee!- Sorry, had to!), as well as a play of Colour Me Badd’s still-awful “I Wanna Sex U Up”- seriously, did any of the screaming girls who made that song popular ever look at those fugly guys?). Still not sure what Nick Ashford (of Ashford and Simpson semi-fame) is doing here in a small role, though. Weird casting.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD