Seventies icon, "Shaft," along with Isaac Hayes' super cool music is back again, but this is the nineties. This Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) is the nephew of the old private dick in a black leather jacket Shaft, Richard Roundtree, a "badass superhero."
This Shaft is a NYPD detective, but with the same charisma as his uncle, and the same determination, as he faces down fellow cops, criminals who really don't like him, and all manner of bad things trying to bag his man.
His man is spoiled white college kid Walter Wade (Christian Bale) who kills a young black student in a bar one night. Shaft makes the arrest and puts Wade behind bars, but Wade skips bale and flees the country.
Shaft waits. He waits two years and arrests Wade as he returns to New York and puts him in the pokey once again. But Wade's rich daddy bails him out. While spending one night in jail, Wade meets up with a Dominican drug dealer, Peoples Hernandez — great name for a shortstop – (Jeffrey Wright), who also has it in for Shaft, and watch out Shaft!
Peoples and Wade plot to finish off their nemesis, and Shaft finds his only backup is cop colleague Carmen (Vanessa Williams) and a streetwise confidant Rasaan (Busta Rhymes). His fellow men in blue turn on him, and, finally, he turns in his badge, becoming a private dick like uncle Shaft.
Director John Singleton (Boyz in the Hood) get high praise from many critics for his portrayal of crooked cops, sleazy informers, and a generally gloomy look at the NYPD. In fact, one reviewer made the sage observation that "Singleton won't be getting any free tickets to the Policeman's Ball."
It is rated R for strong violence and language.
It starts Thursday at Sunny Isle.