One has to wonder why music-video auteur Director X—aka Julien Christian Lutz—decided to remake Gordon Parks Jr.’s gritty 1972 blaxploitation classic. It had to be the music, but how could he improve on the funky Curtis Mayfield soundtrack that served as a kind of Greek chorus? According to Canadian-born Director X, he was inspired by hip-hop star Future, one of the originators of the Atlanta sound, who enlists help from Miguel, Khalid, and Lil Wayne. Moving the setting from Harlem to Atlanta, the action-crime-thriller revolves around Youngblood Priest (Trevor Jackson), a savvy coke dealer with a neck tattoo and pompadour, who wants out of supplying drugs, noting “no car can outrun fate.” Priest’s ruthless rivals, known as the Snow Patrol, are headed by Q (Big Bank Black), whose sociopathic protégé Juju (Kaalan “K.R.” Walker) tries to gun him down. Priest has two live-in girlfriends: sophisticated Georgia (Lex Scott Davis) and younger Cynthia (Andrea Londo). Chasing one “last score” so he can retire, Priest turns to his mentor, martial-artist Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams), but when that doesn’t work, Priest and his hard-working partner (Jason Mitchell) drive across the border to connect with a Mexican drug cartel manager (Esai Morales). In a subplot, Priest is also being exploited by a couple of corrupt police officers (Brian F. Durkin, Jennifer Morrison), leading to a satirical sting effort involving Outkast rapper/songwriter Big Boi as Atlanta’s mayor, who is running for re-election. Along with the obvious objectification of women, Superfly serves up a superficial, formulaic gangsta story. Optional. (S. Granger)
Superfly
Sony, 116 min., R, DVD: $30.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $34.99, Sept. 11 Volume 33, Issue 5
Superfly
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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