IMDb user comments for
Shaft (2000)

advertisement

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 28:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Index

275 comments in total

---

30 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
Still the man..., 20 June 2000

Author: Willy-73 (latingilligan@hotmail.com) from Ottawa

I went to see this movie expecting to see a big-budget remake of the original Shaft, and I got it.

This version is a lot more violent than the original, it didn't seem to be in Shaft's style. The pacing and editing in the first half of the movie were fast and smooth. John Singleton did a great job in establishing Shaft's character and the plot. During the second half of the movie (when the action really begins), however, the movie starts to lose it's original slickness.

Samuel L. Jackson is truly a great Shaft, he's probably the only actor out there (besides the great Richard Roundtree) who could pull this off, and he does an excellent job. This time around, though, we don't really see Shaft's "Ladies' Man" side, except for a couple of innuendoes with minor characters. Like I said, Jackson's Shaft is a little too violent (even for a desensitized, Tarantino fan like me). Christian Bale, after playing a cold,rich, psychopathic killer in "American Psycho", plays a...cold, rich, psychopathic killer. He's perfect in his ability to make us feel absolutely no compassion for him. It's impossible not to mention Bustah Rhymes in a small but great role as Shaft's driver/assistant. He provides some of the comic relief, taking some strain off of Jackson.

I thoroughly enjoyed Isaac Hayes' Oscar-Winning theme, which plays throughout the movie.

This Shaft is a great movie for anyone who's a fan of the original, Sam Jackson, or great action movies in general.

---

19 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
Unoriginal but entertaining, 13 January 2001

Author: FlickJunkie-2 from Atlanta, GA

Thirty years is a long time to wait to make a sequel, especially when no one is clamoring for one. Director/Writer/Producer John Singleton decided it was about time. The result is a solid, but undistinguished crime drama. The elements of this story have been told so many times that they are becoming hackneyed. A tough, no-nonsense cop fights evil and corruption to bring justice to the streets while often disregarding the law. A spoiled rich kid is trying to get away with murder by hiring a drug dealer to snuff an eyewitness with the help of a couple of dirty cops. This is not vanguard material.

Singleton's direction is good in the action sequences (of which there are plenty) and adequate in the dramatic scenes. In this film, he doesn't bring much innovation to the screen, with very straightforward shots and mundane locations. In an overly reverent gesture to the original film, he brings back Richard Roundtree (the original Shaft) as the current Shaft's (Samuel L. Jackson) uncle and mentor. There is also a cameo appearance by Gordon Parks, the director of the original, and of course, Isaac Hayes theme song is back.

The film is elevated from mediocrity by the acting. Samuel L. Jackson is an outstanding actor and slips on the character of this tough, streetwise cop like a tailored glove. When he's bad, he's very very bad and when he is good, he's almost saintly. Christian Bale also gives a fine performance as the despicable rich kid who thinks his wealth puts him above the law. Jeffrey Wright is explosive as the egomaniac drug lord. The supporting actors are also excellent.

This is an entertaining film despite its lack of originality. I rated it a 7/10. Action junkies add a point or two. This film is extremely violent with a high body count.

---

17 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Ahhh....pretty good!, 17 June 2000
Author: gazzo-2 from United States

I liked this one alot-fast moving, funny, crude, violent at times, has the same old 'sphagetti Western' shooting style where the baddie can't hit the broadside of a barn with 400 rounds while Shaft takes'em out one shot at a time, never misses. Enjoyed Jackson in this mucho, this is some fine work by a kinetic actor in his prime. Vanessa Williams is easy on the eyes and a smooth actress in her own right, plus you have to give this Jeffrey Wright guy credit for doing a bang up job as a Puerto Rican(!!) villain(with a heart, sorta...). Bale as the Menendez Brother from hell is effective too. I liked Richard Roundtree, Pat Hingle and Gordon Parks' cameos(look fast for him, as Mr. P in the bar!)

This one isn't meant to be taken too seriously, the car chases and shootouts are right outta anything Dirty Harry has done-but you know, John Singleton sez he intended for this to be a popcorn movie, and I agree, he has hit the bullseye with this.

And that Isaac Hayes score, gotta love it!

*** outta ****, go see it and have fun.

---

19 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
Amusing but really nothing special., 9 April 2004

Author: MovieAddict2008 from UK

An enjoyable but nevertheless quite silly and average remake of the classic television show has the new John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) beating up a white racist (Christian Bale) and getting booted off of the police force. Everyone in this film is a racist - primarily the whites - and this whole idea is way too forced. The language and violence is rough, yet the film itself is quite goofy, with not many good scenes and only a few mediocre action sequences. The moral is somewhat depressing: if someone wrongs you, or someone of your race, then beat them up and kill them once they reappear. Richard Roundtree's cameo helps a bit, but regardless, this SHAFT is still only "good" at best.

2.5/5 stars.

---

8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
An adequate successor but still a B-movie., 12 December 2000

Author: George Parker from Orange County, CA USA

"Shaft 2000" is a reasonable successor to the original Shaft of 29 years ago. The film shows restraint by keeping Shaft big, but not bigger than life, as it tries to be a human story first and an action flick second. Unfortunately, in spite of good performances (especially by Wright) and good production talent, the story fails on the human level and hedges on the obvious alternative of exaggerated good and bad guys and a profusion of gratuitous violence, sex, and action. Worth a watch but keep expectations low.

---

12 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
Unadultrated racist garbage, 3 July 2006

Author: hongpik

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

While the trailers and commercials for this movie made it look really good, this movie itself is a POS that is openly racist against white people and the plot itself is nothing more than African American revenge. Samuel L. Jackson's worst role ever.

1) The villain is a loser white guy who everybody, throughout the entire movie, hates and pushes around, be it the common drunk in the bar, his dad or his partner in crime. In one scene, a black man enters the bar (with a bunch of white chick sycophants no less) and everybody cheers for him. Then our villain white guy makes some vague racist comment and everybody, I mean, every single one in the bar, boos him and try to sooth the black guy whos been insulted. Nothing wrong with that but that way its been portrayed in the movie is so un-subtle, so explicit and is ridiculously intentional. Then the black guy approaches the white guy, almost as if hes gonna beat him up, instead makes two holes in a napkin and puts it on the white guys head as in KKK! YuK YuK YuK. Then everybody, I mean, everybody, once again starts laughing so hard and cheering for our black hero for his oh so innovative come back at the white racist. The white villain is so humiliated that he kills the black guy and absconds.

2) Shaft beats up the villain's white ass and takes him to court. Bad guy uses influence to get bail. Everybody, I mean, every single freaking one who can be seen, cries and boos in disappointment. Shaft resigns by embarrassingly throwing his badge at the judge.

3) The rest of the plot is about Shaft trying to locate an eyewitness, brotha style, beating up white boys along the way.

4) The white guy is shot in the end by the black martyr's mom. More attempts at drama gone bad.

I'm not even white myself but this movie is so explicitly racist that anyone of any race would find it an utter embarrassment to watch. All the drama of blaxploitation is so fake and so insincere that it makes me want to puke. There are no redeeming qualities about this movie too. The action sucks and the dialogue, trying to be badass, is utterly embarrassing. One of the worst movies ever made.

0/10 stars.

---

2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
lively homage, 13 January 2001
Author: Roland E. Zwick (magneteach@aol.com) from United States

Samuel L. Jackson seems to be having the time of his movie acting life portraying the title character in `Shaft,' John Singleton's take on the groundbreaking classic that, on its release in 1971, served as the blueprint for all the `blaxploitation' films that filled theatres throughout the early and mid 1970's. Unfortunately, the concept of a rogue black cop, defying the rules and doing things his own way, is not as fresh as it was back in the time of the original film, so this new version of `Shaft' has less to recommend it. Still, it is an efficient police procedural, filled with crowd-pleasing moments of adrenalin-pumping melodrama, hissable villains and a wisecracking, kickass hero who seems virtually indestructible – just the way we like our heroes to be in a movie like this.

Singleton pays affectionate homage to the original film in many ways. Jackson actually plays the nephew of the original Shaft and, indeed, Richard Roundtree makes a cameo appearance early on in the film as Jackson's seasoned mentor. Singleton wisely uses the original Isaac Hayes recording of the hit song as background for the film's opening credit sequence and backs up many of the action scenes with an impressive instrumental interpretation as well.

The story offers little that is new for this particular genre whose films often rise or fall based on the quality of the foils against whom the hero must ultimately contend. Luckily, the filmmakers are blessed with not just one but two impressive villains – Jeffrey Wright as Peoples Hernandez, a tough talking thug who wants to expand out of the little neighborhood kingdom he has established into the big time of upper class drug dealing, and Christian Bale as Walter Wade, Jr., the racist, spoiled-brat son of a New York City magnate whose hate crime killing of an innocent black man sets the plot in motion and serves as fodder for Shaft's personal vendetta. Bale proves definitively that the quality of subtle, soul-cringing evil he brought to his role in `American Psycho' was no fluke and that he can be as effective in a big budget extravaganza like this one as he is in a smaller scale, far more quirky work like `Psycho.' Vanessa Williams, on the other hand, who plays Shaft's partner and who is almost unrecognizable buried under a dark beret, fails to distinguish herself either in her role or in her performance.

Then we have Mr. Jackson himself. Here is a man who slides so effortlessly into the role that, despite the absurdity and incredibility of much that is going on around him, we never question the film's veracity for a moment. Whether tossing off wisecracks, shooting at unarmed criminals, pounding defenseless suspects into insensibility or consoling distraught witnesses, Shaft remains forever a hero, acting out the impulses we in the audience feel but are never able to fully act upon in our daily lives. Thus, this new `Shaft' works best as simpleminded good vs. evil melodrama – and even the most sophisticated movie watcher can use a bit of that once in a while.

---

4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Fascist "remake" of a once beautiful film., 30 May 2001

Author: Jon R Moe from Paris, France

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Contains spoilers

the original SHAFT was a beautiful homage to the "Hustla"; the slick superman having his own way with things, women and the law. The original Shaft, played by Richard Roundtree was so cool he even taught the italian mafiosi how to drink espresso ("You know what this is? This is an Expresso (sic) tell'em to put some garlic into it,you might like it")

Sam Jackson's SHAFT bears no resemblance to this smooth original. He's an old fascist cop making his way through the ghetto like Charles Bronson's controversial vigilante from the "Death Wish" films. BUT - SHAFT is no vigilante. He's the law. His violence is institutionalized. And the film celebrates it.

Although the main plot is a classic blaxploitation one : Black cop chasing a white sonofabi*ch (in this case a nazi murderer) ; it always gets mixed up with the subplot; SHAFTs personal war on a quite peaceful coke dealer named Peoples. The final showdown is NOT with the Nazi bad guy; but with Peoples : the only character that bears any resemblance to a classic blaxploitation hero. And Peoples gets killed, cold bloodedly by the avengeful Shaft. His last remark made; before Shaft guns him down is. "I am not your enemy. I'm Peoples" He's the people; and Shaft's at war with it.

Do see this film; and hate it.

---

5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Well updated, 27 July 2002
Author: davideo-2 from Birmingham,England

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Just under 30 years after the Richard Roundtree original was released,this classy but foul-mouthed and extremely violent remake comes.Samuel L. Jackson is well cast in the titular leading role,and has a surprisingly small age difference between himself and Roundtree,who played the original and has a small role here as Shaft's uncle.And the Isaac Hayes theme tune remains one of the most funky,invigorating tracks ever.Where the movie falls short however,is in the plot department.Though clearly outlined,it is still told in a very incoherent manner,with one event not really lining up to the next.Still,it's really faithful and well-updated to modern times,and the action will keep you glued.***

---

1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Light weight but entertaining, 4 May 2008

Author: gws-2 from United States

I was surprised that I liked this remake of "Shaft" as much as I did. It has a wonderful ensemble cast, which included Toni Collette, Christian Bale, and the terrific, Jeffrey Wright. All of them are allowed to bring their considerable acting chops to their roles, especially Bale as a Hateful Rich White Boy from central casting, and Wright as a simultaneously hilarious and scary gangster. Samuel L. Jackson plays, well, Samuel L. Jackson, this time cast as Shaft, a tall, tough, elegant black dude who looks like Samuel L. Jackson – not that there's anything wrong with that.

Don't expect deathless art here but do expect to be entertained. It's one of those movies that is so politically incorrect it makes you gasp while you are laughing. There are lots of explosions, gore, and chases, both afoot and in cars, and it all happens in little more than 90 minutes. It's a lot of fun, highly recommended.

---

---

Page 1 of 28:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Ratings	Awards
Newsgroup reviews	External reviews	Official site
Plot keywords	Main details	Your user comments
Your vote history