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Black Dynamite: Season One
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (19th July 2014). |
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The Show
 Since the blaxploitation boon of the 1970's, there haven’t been many memorable properties to come out of that genre. In fact, the most notable modern day blaxploitation film has been Samuel L. Jackson’s turn as Shaft, in the 2000 film of the same name, and that ain’t exactly a good thing. The 21st century was in dire need of a new hero in the Black community, and Michael Jai White was the right man with the right idea. After hosting some blaxploitation backyard parties, where the guests would dress up in their finest vintage attire, White got the idea for a feature film. He and writer/director Scott Sanders put together a proof of concept trailer for a mere $500, utilizing White’s own style and snappy dialogue alongside old clips from old blaxploitation movies. Their plan worked, and soon funding was secured for “Black Dynamite” (2009), a throwback/sendup of those classic underground films. Featuring a roster of unique, outlandish caricature characters, the picture was a hit with critics but had a tough time connecting with a mass audience due to a limited two-week theatrical run on only 70 screens. Black Dynamite, one of the greatest heroes to explode onto the silver screen, needed to expand his reach if there were to be more adventures. Rather than dive right into a sequel, the creative team behind the film decided to scale back (in a sense) and launch the property as an animated adult cartoon, appropriately on the Adult Swim late-night programming block on Cartoon Network. Similar to the approach taken with the film, a shorter concept pilot was created and broadcast in the fall of 2011 before the full series debuted in 2012. The series retains many of the characters that made the film so raucous – Black Dynamite (Michael Jai White), of course, along with Bullhorn (Byron Minns), Cream Corn (Tommy Davidson), and Honeybee (Kym Whitley) – while eschewing much of the canon that came before it… sort of. Many of the film’s jokes, situations, and characters are frequently referenced, which helps tie everything together quite nicely, but if you’ve seen the movie you know the fate of certain characters would have made it impossible for them to participate without taking this approach. And, really does adherence to the film matter? Each episode is a stand-alone, with any callbacks referencing the film and nothing else. The style of the series was a minor point of contention for some fans. Instead of being drawn in a more vintage style commensurate with the 70's aesthetic, the flashy, slick frames are done up similar to Adult Swim’s other acerbic urban comedy, “The Boondocks” (2005-2014). Despite the modern look, the show is very much grounded in those olden days, featuring cameos from stars of days gone by, including a Jackson 5-era Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson, Mr. T, Richard Pryor, Elvis, and Black Dynamite’s theatrical nemesis himself, disgraced former President Richard Nixon. Numerous peripheral characters from the film also pop in for well-timed cameos. Although the low-budget roots of traditional blaxploitation films isn’t as easily translated to the animated images, the show still makes attempts to show we are operating within a universe of one-and-done takes with sharp sight gags. Just like the film, nearly every line is delivered with comedic intent, some working better than others. The show’s setting allows the writers to have anachronistic fun with famous faces that eventually went on to become infamous. Michael Jackson does not get off easy. Fans of the film should have no qualms settling in to watch the ten episodes produced for this first season. The writing is sharp, the humor is biting, and Black Dynamite is the same force of nature as presented in his eponymous film. The story lines do veer off into the absurd quite often, a trait that caused the film’s third act to suffer somewhat, but this sort of ridiculousness work for the given medium. Hopefully, the series will continue on, spreading the good word of Black Dynamite, and eventually a strong sequel will manifest. Until then, crack yourself open a 40 oz. of Anaconda Malt Liquor, light you up a little something, and watch Black Dynamite and co. handle business. “Black Dynamite: Season One” hits Blu-ray with all ten 22-minute episodes presented on a single disc, along with a number of bonus features. The episodes included are as follows (synopses courtesy of IMDb): - “Just Beat It or Jackson Five Across Yo' Eyes” - When Cream Corn saves young Michael Jackson (Tae Brooks) from an assassination attempt, the pint-sized pop star finds in Corn a new best friend. - “Bullhorn Nights or Murder She Throats” - It started as a mission to infiltrate the world of adult film in order to solve a case. But now Bullhorn may be in over his head... in bitches. - “Taxes and Death or Get Him to the Sunset Strip” - With the IRS on his case for a reported $60K and tax day fast approaching, Black Dynamite and crew experience one of their most challenging missions to date. - “A Crisis for Christmas or The Dark Side of the Dark Side of the Moon” - It's Christmastime at The Whorephanage, and while Black Dynamite loves the holidays, he's distracted by a problem: what can he get the orphans for Christmas? - “Panic on the Player's Ball Express or That's Influenza Sucka!” - Every year the Player's Ball - the annual international gala gathering of Pimps - tries to top the previous years' festivities. This year, it's a costume party on a luxurious cross-country train. - “The Sh*t That Killed the King or Weekend at Presley's” - When the President's plan to destroy the Black community with illegal drugs backfires, Tricky Dick unleashes his latest weapon: Special DEA agent Elvis Aaron Presley! - “Apocalypse, This! Or for the Pity of Fools Aka Flashbacks Are Forever” - Back in Vietnam, Black Dynamite's "brother from another mother," Lawrence Tureaud (Aries Spears) was a force to be reckoned with. That is until the U.S. pulled out and left the man for dead. - “Honky Kong or White Apes Can't Hump” - If Calgon can't take Honey Bee away, a giant albino gorilla can! The grind of running the Whorephanage has finally taken its toll on Honey Bee. - “The Race War or Big Black Cannon, Balls Run!” - Black Dynamite's non-white arch nemesis, Fiendish Dr. Wu (Eric Bauza), has stolen an experimental supply of Menthol X- a super addictive mind-control additive- and sold it to the Notorious Big Tobacco Company! - “Seed of Kurtis AKA Father Is Just Another Word for Motherf*cker” - The Reverend Daddy Dynamite (Clifton Powell) left Black Dynamite when he was just a little 8-year old children. But now he's back in the Community preaching a new kind of revivalism, and BD... couldn't be happier? One minor complaint: despite being billed as “uncensored” it’s only the language that’s been given free rein, as any moments of nudity or sexuality are still blurred out. Considering this is a home video release, the decision behind this is curious, especially when you consider the animated nudity featured in the film that was unobscured.
Video
Each episode is presented with a 1.78:1 (not 2.40:1, as the back cover claims) 1080p 24/fps VC-1 encoded image, and the results are as spectacular as you might expect from a newly-animated series. Although the series has been drawn in a fresh, contemporary style there are still minor flourishes that give it a vintage aesthetic. The flashy animation is richly saturated, with a strong color palette and defined line work. Black levels are rich and inky, as they should be. There’s very little fault to be found here, and any issues may just be intentional considering the show’s unique style.
Audio
“Black Dynamite” the film was intentionally limited in range, featuring many audio flubs and purposely poor source music, and much of that sound design is carried over to the animated series. An English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound track (48kHz/24-bit) delivers the goods. Just as many jokes from the film made their way into this show, so, too, have many of the sound effects and music cues, which have literally been ported right over to maintain consistency within this universe. The show’s opening theme is funky and catchy, sounding like something straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon from 1978. The show’s effects and music feature great separation, with some solid panning and strong fidelity. The rear speakers don’t come into play often, though their constant exclusion is in keeping with the show’s intentionally limited approach. Subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
“Black Dynamite” kung-fu chops his way onto Blu-ray with a deadly dose of high-flying extras. Included are a handful of video commentaries, a making-of featurette and the original pilot. “The Making of Black Dynamite” (1080i) is a featurette that runs for 10 minutes and 37 seconds. The show’s core creative team – Carl Jones, Michael Jai White, and Byron Minns – discuss how the animated series came to be, how they develop story ideas, guest stars, fun with history, and more. This is a fun, informative piece that feels all too brief. Picture-in-picture audio commentaries are included for the following episodes: - “Just Beat It or Jackson Five Across Yo' Eyes”, with executive producer Carl Jones, cast members Tommy Davidson, Michael Jai White, and creator Byron Minns. - “Bullhorn Nights or Murder She Throats”, with executive producer Carl Jones, cast members Tommy Davidson, Michael Jai White, and creator Byron Minns. - “Taxes and Death or Get Him to the Sunset Strip”, with with executive producer Carl Jones, cast members Tommy Davidson, Michael Jai White, and creator Byron Minns. - “Apocalypse, This! Or for the Pity of Fools Aka Flashbacks Are Forever”, with with executive producer Carl Jones, cast members Tommy Davidson, Michael Jai White, Kym Whitley, and creator Byron Minns. The commentaries are fun, featuring the expected anecdotes and information regarding each episode, but the style in which they’re presented is sort of pointless. Video commentaries are inherently unnecessary because the picture is interrupted by participants simply sitting around with headphones on, commenting on what they’re watching. We don’t need to see them, which is why audio-only is the standard. The window they’re in takes up the bottom right hand corner of the screen, obscuring a good portion of the image. Finally, the disc includes the original pilot episode (1080p), called “The Pilot” and runs for 11 minutes- Our a**-kickin-friend-of-the-community, Black Dynamite, takes on his childhood mentor and surrogate father: That Frog Kurtis, a Puppet TV educator turned super villain!
Packaging
The single disc comes housed in a Blu-ray keep case, with some bada** wraparound artwork featuring Black Dynamite getting his kung-fu on against some of Fiendish Dr. Wu’s ninjas. This is contained within a slick, side-loading slipcase with a striking image of Black Dynamite adorning the cover. Outta sight, indeed.
Overall
If you loved the film, you’ll love the show. It’s got all the same humor, characters, crazy plot lines and unbridled a** kicking the Black Dynamite brand was built upon. Season Two debuts October 2014 and this Blu-ray set is a nice appetizer to whet your whistle for the main course. Dig on it.
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