Shaft

More a cookie-cutter tough-cop-who-plays-by-his-own-rules shoot-'em-up than an updated blaxploitation action flick, writer-director John Singleton's Shaft revival features loud hand cannons with endless rounds of ammunition, handsomely gritty five boroughs photography, a killer pimp soundtrack (naturally) and Samuel L. Jackson appropriately cast as that bad-ass cultural icon, the private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks. The witness-protection plot is utterly generic and Singleton, smelling a potential franchise and not about to rock the boat, plays the picture 100-percent by the book (ironically). But Jackson carries the film into entertaining territory with his cool-as-ice performance, and Christian Bale (American Psycho) and Jeffrey Wright (Ride with the Devil) also leave lasting impressions as the film's intense antagonists. A strong optional purchase. (R. Blackwelder)