Rating: **
Review Date: 9/18/23
Director: Michael Jai White
Written By: Michael Jai White, Byron Minns
Cast: Michael Jai White, Byron Minns, Anika Noni Rose, Erica Ash,
Chris Browning, Randy Couture, Kym Whitley, Barry Bostwick, cameos by
Fred Williamson, Jim Brown
"From the brothers that brought you Black Dynamite..."
Not only is the outlaw Johnny Black (Michael Jai White) on the run from the law, but he's also trying to avenge his father's murder by bringing justice to the notorious criminal, Brett Clayton (Chris Browning). On the way to Hope Springs, Johnny meets up with a preacher named Percival Fairman (Byron Minns), as well as a group of savage Indians. Unfortunate circumstances force Johnny to impersonate the good reverend, which naturally results in a bunch of mistaken identity gags. Can Johnny keep up the charade long enough to fool the townsfolk, rob the bank, defeat an evil land baron (Barry Bostwick), get the girl (Anika Noni Rose), and skedaddle out of town before the law catches up with him?
The film starts out as a promising parody/homage of a Blaxploitation Spaghetti Western, but it quickly loses steam. Unfortunately, most of the humor falls flat, and the bits that are actually funny get drawn out so long that they lose their impact. The film could definitely be tightened up, and it feels about 45 minutes too long. Somewhere along the way, it becomes a serious drama about Johnny's journey of self-discovery and salvation, which makes the humor even more awkward and misplaced. Similarly, the music starts out with some great throwbacks to 70's genre films, but then finds its own voice as the movie progresses.
It's clearly a low budget production, but all of the actors give great performances and look like they're having a fun time. Michael Jai White and Byron Minns are excellent and Chris Browning makes a superb villain. Anika Noni Rose and Erica Ash are both talented and pretty, and Ash's sexually charged scene with a half-naked White is hilariously raunchy. Sadly, in order to maintain a PG-13 rating, the violence and raunchiness are toned down considerably from "Black Dynamite" (2009), which is a shame because the action scenes could have benefitted from some classic 70's bloodletting. As it is, it's just a bunch of people pointing guns at each other and falling down. Michael Jai White gets in a couple of anachronistic martial arts scenes, which are as entertaining as they are out of place.
Ultimately, I really wanted to like this movie, but I constantly found myself frustrated by its pacing and inconsistent tone. The film lacks subtlety and its tendency to spell everything out comes across as an insult to the audience's intelligence. It feels like an incomplete masterpiece for Michael Jai White, and one that might benefit greatly from some extra editing and polishing.