Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
New York police detective John Shaft arrests Walter Wade Jr. for a racially motivated slaying. But the only eyewitness disappears, and Wade jumps bail for Switzerland. Two years later Wade returns to face trial, confident his money and influence will get him acquitted -- especially since he's paid a drug kingpin to kill the witness.
Shaft (2000) is a slick, entertaining update of the blaxploitation classic anchored by Samuel L. Jackson's magnetic, coolly commanding performance — one of his most effortlessly charismatic turns. The plot is functional but fairly formulaic: a corrupt rich kid, a missing witness, a drug lord hired as muscle — it hits genre beats without much surprise. Cinematography is competent New York urban thriller work, professional but unremarkable. Novelty is low; while Jackson's interpretation gives it some energy, it's ultimately a remake/revival that follows well-trodden revenge-thriller territory without reinventing anything. The ending is a letdown — rushed and anticlimactic, failing to deliver a satisfying payoff after a reasonably engaging setup.