Honky male actors have been making mediocre action movies for years, so I see it as a sign of gender equality that Taraji P. Henson made the incredibly mediocre “Proud Mary” (2018). It’s got two hallmarks of mediocre action cinema: Good guys with 100 percent handgun accuracy versus bad guys with 2 percent accuracy, and the Law of Unlimited Bullets. The slapped-together plot has her assassin character trying to flee a crime family, save an orphan and survive a mob war she semi-accidentally started. The title hinted that Henson might try a spin on 1970s blaxploitation films. Disposability won out.
Archives for posts with tag: blaxploitation
Sometimes it’s good to not overanalyze things. Just shut up and watch the movie. “Undercover Brother” is a good example. It’s a stupid/funny 2002 homage to the 1970s blaxploitation movies in which self-assured black protagonists crack the case and stick it to The Man. It’s not a microcosm of anything, it’s not a symbol of anything, you’re not supposed to be sitting there wondering whether you should be laughing or whether laughing would confirm some ulterior motive by the filmmaker to show that you’re racially insensitive. Like I said, all you honkies just shut up, watch the movie, and laugh.
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