A lot of reviews I've read of New Jack City compare it to Scarface. Of course I mean the 1983 Brian De Palma movie with Al Pacino not the 1932 Howard Hawks one with Paul Muni. Of course there are certain similarities present. Both films are about the rise and fall of a drug lord. Both have an iconic performance by the actor playing the drug lord. But overall, NJC reminds me less of Scarface and more of another De Palma directed classic: The Untouchables.

The basic premises are similar there as well. The Untouchables was about a group of circa 1930 Chicago cops trying to take down Al Capone. NJC is about a late 80s-early 90s New York cocaine kingpin and the cops who set out to take him down. The Untouchables is also like NJC in that it has its basis in real events. But is an overall fictional story.

So yes, NJC is hardly original in its story or characters. It's also very preachy in spots (take a drink every time you hear a character comment on how very bad crack is) and some of the dialogue is cheesy ("Hanging with Elvis?"). Yet overall, NJC works as a decent crime movie. It doesn't transcend the genre the way Scarface and The Untouchables did. But it's still effective.

The basic premise of NJC has New York City cocaine cowboy Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) coming up with a new way to distribute his product. He seizes control of an apartment building called The Carter and uses that as a distribution point/resort for junkies. After a few years of flooding the boroughs with crack, the cops are at their wits end when it comes to stopping Nino. That's when officer Stone (Mario Van Peebles) realizes that the only way to get Nino is the New Jack way. He pulls a knife you pull a gun, he sends one of yours to the hospital...nevermind. He assigns tough streetwise cops Scott Appleton (Ice-T) and Nick Paretti (Judd Nelson) to get the dirt on Nino.

Van Peebles, who made his feature film directorial debut with this pic, directs the film in a manner that truly brings it to life. He begins the film with a series of overhead shots of 1986 New York set to a new jack rendition of those 70s soul classics "For the Love of Money" and "Living for the City". Meanwhile, we hear various radio reports of the unfolding drug war. The film has an overall gritty look, which is appropriate for the story. Van Peebles also features a large number of late 80s early 90s hip-hop and R&B numbers in the film as well as a couple pop fiascoes from that era (Color Me Badd's "I Wanna Sex You Up"). In addition singers Nick Ashford, Christopher Williams and Keith Sweat make appearances in this movie.

Snipes' performance is definitely the best one in the film. He doesn't take Nino over the top ala Al Pacino in the aforementioned Scarface. Instead, he plays him as an evil businessman with an arrogant sense of authority to him. That works and Snipes gives it his all. Ice-T (in his debut acting role) surprised quite a few people by playing a cop after lambasting law enforcement numerous times on his rap albums. But he does a good job playing Appleton. He brings the urban toughness he showed in his music to the role and gives us an Appleton who doesn't hesitate to toss the rule book out the window. Nelson, looking waaaaay different here than he was in The Breakfast Club, has somewhat limited screen time. But his scenes are effective. A former addict himself, Paretti is a tough guy with humanity inside him and in one of the climactic scenes, offers a glimpse of it that affects both the audience and Ice-T. Van Peebles is decent as Stone, although I personally think he's better off behind the camera than in front of it.

I would be remiss without mentioning Chris Rock. He's here in one of his first movie roles as a young drug addict named Pookie. Although I personally find Rock to be a better stand-up comic than actor, here he does quite well. He shows Pookie going from young criminal in the beginning of the movie to cleaned up (with help from Appleton) to young informant to relapsed OD. Rock manages to put a human face on what would otherwise be a moldy cliché.

So yes, New Jack City is somewhat dated and preachy. But overall, it's a genre pic that's worth your time. Not on the level of Scarface or Goodfellas or Deep Cover or The Untouchables. But worth viewing.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older