{"id":18458,"date":"2019-06-13T13:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-06-13T20:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=18458"},"modified":"2019-06-13T13:00:40","modified_gmt":"2019-06-13T20:00:40","slug":"the-latest-shaft-is-a-let-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=18458","title":{"rendered":"The Latest SHAFT is a Let Down"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/24_0006_C+-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7079\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First debuting in 1971, hard-nosed private detective Shaft\nhas entertained audiences for decades, not only in the first trilogy of films\n(not to mention a brief TV series), but also a 2000 remake that introduced the\nnext generation in the family. The latest <em>Shaft<\/em> marks the fifth\ncinematic outing of the character and adds more relatives to the mix. But despite\nthe talented and charismatic cast assembled, the screenplay fails to maximize\nthe story&#8217;s potential to provide action thrills, nor does it go out of its way\nto address the social themes one would expect. As a result, this is the least\npersuasive entry in the franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Shaft-leads-cu.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18459\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Button-down, reserved John Shaft Jr. (Jesse T. Usher) is a\ndata analyst and new employee at the FBI, but feels unappreciated by his\nsuperiors. When a childhood friend dies under strange circumstances, the\nprotagonist tries to find out what really happened. After hitting a dead end he\nreaches out to his estranged father, John Shaft II (Samuel L. Jackson). The\npair soon uncover a criminal element that may tie into an event from the senior\nShaft&#8217;s past that splintered the family. As they speak with suspects, the leads\ntry to work out their personal differences and dad attempts to help his son woo\npotential romantic interest, Sasha (Alexandra Shipp). Eventually, clan\npatriarch John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) enters the fray to help take down the\nbad guys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Shaft-three-generations-faces.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18460\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those familiar with the series might remember that the first\nmovie involved the character solving a crime to prevent a race war, while\nothers followed the hero taking on the mob, a human smuggling ring, and even stopping\nan entitled racist with ties to a drug lord. While these previous chapters were\nsharp and edgy and put Shaft in some dangerous situations with memorably nasty,\nposturing heavies, this follow-up is decidedly more routine and\nrun-of-the-mill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, it commits the cardinal sin of action movies in not\noffering an equally notable antagonist. There is a crime lord whom the elder\nsuggests may be responsible for the death. We hear references and see pictures\nof the figure, but never interact with him, at least until late in the film. As\nsuch, he doesn&#8217;t make an impression in any way, shape or form and never feels\nparticularly threatening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Shafts-heroes.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18461\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, the movie follows the leads as they interview\nvarious figures, but most of it is little more than conversations and light bickering\nbetween the father and son. Their personalities are so different that it offers\nsome potential for conflict and humor. Yet we don&#8217;t hear all that many zingers.\nMostly, the fatherly private eye tells Shaft Jr. how to act masculine; the son\ncapitulates, only to note later that he doesn&#8217;t approve of the methods being\nemployed. It&#8217;s all very routine and far less of it makes an impact than one\nwould expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even the shoot-outs and action scenes are remarkably brief and will do little to raise the pulse of viewers. As previously mentioned, the leads are likable, so they do manage to sell an amusing line here and there. But the story they&#8217;ve been saddled with is dull and generic. This isn&#8217;t a terrible movie, but it is a forgettable one and at times, this reviewer felt like he was watching a TV pilot with some cussing thrown in, rather than a big cinematic rebirth of a classic character. Sadly, there&#8217;s a lack of spark to the latest take on <em>Shaft<\/em> that will leave most viewers feeling let down. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First debuting in 1971, hard-nosed private detective Shaft has entertained audiences for decades, not only in the first trilogy of films (not to mention a brief TV series), but also a 2000 remake that introduced the next generation in the family. The latest Shaft marks the fifth cinematic outing of the character and adds more [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[197,697,4910,10639,14399,16391,16766,17015,17598,18035,18112,18113,18114,18115],"class_list":["post-18458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-197","tag-action","tag-crime","tag-jesse-t-usher","tag-murder","tag-private-detectives","tag-reboot","tag-richard-roundtree","tag-samuel-l-jackson","tag-sequel","tag-shaft","tag-shaft-film-review","tag-shaft-movie-review","tag-shaft-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}