Shaft (2000)

Shaft (2000)

starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeffrey Wright, Christian Bale

directed by John Singleton

99 minutes

Walter Wade, Jr. (Christian Bale) is arrested by NYPD Detective John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson). Wade killed a Black man outside of a New York City restaurant. There was just one witness Diane, a waitress who is afraid to talk. Wade is granted bail and then flees to Switzerland.

Two years later Wade secretly returns to New York. Shaft finds out about it from Rasaan, one of his informants. Shaft arrests Wade but once again Wade is granted bail despite his past record. Shaft quits the NYPD, frustrated with the way Wade was treated by the justice system.

Shaft goes to work for his uncle, the other John Shaft and star of Shaft (1971). Shaft continues to search for Diane, the witness to the murder who vanished soon after Wade fled to Switzerland.

Wade met a gang leader named Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright) while he was incarcerated awaiting a bail hearing. Wade cuts a deal with Hernandez to kill Diane in exchange for $40,000.

The various pieces of the story eventually come together. Diane is found. Peoples and his men go after her. Some of the cops Shaft used to work for turn out to be on the take. A bunch of bad guys are killed. Justice is served.

Thoughts

There are a number of familiar faces in this movie, in addition to the three named above including Vanessa Williams, Busta Rhymes, Dan Hedaya, Toni Collette, Richard Roundtree, Pat Hingle, Lee Tergesen, and Mekhi Phifer. Some get several lines and more than one scene, some do not.

This is a very different feeling movie than the original Shaft (1971). It has a bigger budget and a wider ranging plot than the original. The story is kind of flipped. In the first film Shaft was trying to rescue someone who had been abducted. This time around he is trying to prevent the bad guys from getting at a witness. 

This is my third time watching this movie. I saw it in the theater when it was first released. I really enjoyed it back then. The second time I watched it was in Aug 2013. I recall enjoying it then, possibly about the same as I did the first time. I enjoyed it this time around but probably not to the same degree. Once the story gets away from the knowing jokes and nods to the audience it gets better but there's a little too much in the blender in my opinion. It is of course entirely possible that I just expected too much from this movie this time around.