Country: United States
Genre: Action/Blackploitation
Director: Larry Cohen
Year: 2006
Rating: 
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
For the first 45 minutes or so, writer Aubrey K. Rattan and director Larry Cohen put together a kickass version of a modern blaxploitation movie.
All of the elements are done with style to spare. There’s the wall to wall R&B music score — the filmmakers have included a wide variety, from old school jams to funk to rap. You’ve got gratuitous shots of fried chicken and biscuits. There’s even a soul combo in a bar, just to add extra flavor. And what a cast! It’s like a blaxploitation class reunion — we’ve got Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Paul Winfield, Isabel Sanford, and Richard Roundtree. The acting is cheesy enough to evoke the blaxploitation classics of yore, but competent enough to keep you invested in Original Gangstas.
But that’s not all. Writer Aubrey K. Rattan has added some extras, like the prologue about Gary, Indiana, that gives some context to the proceedings. Rattan is careful to explore the sociological implications of his scenario, not in any deep sort of way, but just enough to enrich the material.
But what about the action, you say? It’s beefed up to somewhat modern standards, as compared to blaxploitation classics. The fights don’t look completely fake, the way they often did in those old films, but you shouldn’t expect Casino Royale style mixed martial arts either. There are a number of gratuitous explosions, but that’s part of the fun of the genre.
And that’s the key to enjoying Original Gangstas. If you’re a fan of 70s blaxploitation cinema, you’ll get a kick out of the filmmakers’ homage to many of the original elements of the genre. If you could give a damn about blaxploitation, then Original Gangstas will seem lame compared to say, the Hughes Brothers’ Menace 2 Society.
The plot? A kid gets killed over a trivial matter of dissing the neighborhood gang, The Rebels. Unfortunately for the current crop of Rebels, John Bookman (Fred Williamson) and Jake Trevor (Jim Brown), founding members of The Rebels who left Gary, Indiana for greener pastures long ago, have close ties to the family of the boy. They return to the neighborhood for the funeral and to get some justice. They also get the neighborhood involved.
So, we’re treated to the spectacle of middle-aged veterans of blaxploitation flicks beating the tar out of a bunch of young punks, which is fun.
Where Original Gangstas starts to go wrong is around the 45 minute mark. Up until then, director Larry Cohen has kept the pacing nice and punchy, still managing to add a little sociological commentary to give Original Gangstas some depth. But afterwards, the balance is off. There’s a little too much in the way of personal dynamics getting in the way. Instead of being lean and mean, Original Gangstas becomes shaggy and bloated. Director Larry Cohen seems to forget that the strength of these kinds of films is not drama, it’s using dramatic conflict as a flimsy excuse for action. That’s why they’re called exploitation films.
Still, for fans of blaxploitation flicks, Original Gangstas is fun. It just doesn’t qualify as a classic.
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