Random Ass Movie Reviews: New Jack City
Welcome to my new series “Random Ass Movie Reviews” where I take a movie I watched and review it. Most of the time these movies will be cult classics, forgotten relics of pop-culture history, overlooked social commentaries, and movies the critics decided to hate on unfairly (in my humble opinion).
Every now and then again, I’ll review a more “mainstream” film, i.e. something just released in theaters or a cinema classic I’ve delayed watching for the longest time.
Ratings System: I will be trying out something new for a ratings system since rating something out of 5 is over-done. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Keanu Reeves, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Steven Seagal will be the ratings system. These are all action stars who’ve had their time in the cinematic spotlight (Reeves is still going strong with John Wick: Chapter 3-Parabellum coming out this summer). I think we can all agree that Seagal is the weak link among this group and that Van Damme’s films can leave something to be desired (no disrespect meant I swear).
So an Arnie rating will be the highest rating possible, Stallone will be 2nd, Keanu 3rd, Van Damme 4th and Seagal last (once again, no disrespect! Seriously, I could only dream of being able to do crazy-ass stunts like that for a major Hollywood motion picture).
I want this to be as interactive an experience as possible so if you have anything you’d like me to watch and review, drop a recommendation in the comments and I’ll see what I can do!
This week, I watched Mario Van Peebles’ directorial debut New Jack City, a 90s gangster flick starring the goat Wesley Snipes and Ice-T as the most badass undercover cop of all-time. Chris Rock is in this one too as a crackhead seeking redemption, the late Bill Nunn plays a gangster, Vanessa Williams is a gun-toting sidekick, and Peebles himself plays the head of an undercover police operation.
Peebles’ father Melvin van Peebles directed the infamous Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song, a radical independent film from 1971 that kicked off the blaxploitation movement in cinema (although the film was not blaxploitation itself). Marvin does fine work with New Jack City and even includes a message crucial to the time period.
Wesley Snipes is Nino Brown, a man taking advantage of the crack epidemic plaguing poor communities in Harlem. He kicks off a drug empire with the help of his childhood friend “Gee Money” (Allen Payne), Keisha (Vanessa Williams), Kareem (Christopher Williams), and the unfortunately-nicknamed “Duh Duh Duh Man” (Bill Nunn) who has a speech impediment. Back in the 90s, films could still casually include “retard” as an insult with little consequence. More later on how 90s this film gets.
Similar to the portrayal of Ron Stallworth in Spike Lee’s Black KkKlansman, Scotty Appleton (Ice-T) is a cop on the right side of history. He’s disgusted at the state of the black community and wants to get crack off the streets for good. Unfortunately his passion doesn’t translate well to the police force and he receives few opportunities to work on big cases.
Eventually, Nino’s drug empire grows so large that the police are forced to do something about it. Scotty volunteers for an undercover operation and is paired with Nick Peretti (Judd Nelson), a prejudiced man whom Scotty can’t stand (they almost fight on a few occasions).
Scotty enlists the help of “Pookie,” (Chris Rock in a dramatic role) to infiltrate Nino’s business. Eventually, Scotty goes undercover himself and gets close to Nino. What results is a powerful, nerve-racking experience that really examines all the risks and downfalls of the drug-dealing lifestyle.
While some aspects of New Jack City make it difficult for me to call it a masterpiece, it was a film I loved and seems like one that will last after repeat viewings. The film’s ending texts give an encouraging message, but under a modern lens it comes off as little corny. However, I do applaud Melvin Van Peebles for refusing to glorify violence and drugs in the film.
The film was made in 1991 and it shows in the cinematography choices and soundtrack. Flavor Flav has a cameo in an early club scene and Keith Sweat briefly appears at a wedding.
Sadly, it would definitely not pass the Bechdel test as the only female characters are Keisha, Nino’s girlfriend Selina (Michael Michele), and Uniqua (Tracy Camilla Johns, best known for playing the titular character in Spike Lee’s first film She’s Gotta Have It). Keisha doesn’t do much besides shoot people and Uniqua has little dialogue which is disappointing considering how great Camilla Johns was in She’s Gotta Have It. It does seem to fit the time period though and Keisha is one of Nino’s confidants so it never reaches Goodfellas levels of sexism.
Overall, New Jack City was a great thriller that delivered on action and suspense. Without getting into spoilers, some of the more resonant portions come later in the film as Nino gets in over his head and Scotty lets his disdain for Nino get the better of him.
This is a film I would recommend to fans of the gangster, action, or thriller genre. I would also recommend this film for Wesley Snipes’ performance which, in my opinion, was worthy of an Oscar nomination. Ice-T is great as well and I’m sure fans of his work on Law and Order will appreciate his acting here.
The film was on HBO Now last month, but was just removed so you can find a physical copy or rent/buy it on most digital streaming services (Amazon, YouTube, iTunes, Vudu).
RATING: Sylvester Stallone in Creed and Creed II
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