Director: Director X.
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 116 minutes
SuperFly (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
When hearing a title such as SuperFly, one could imagine the movie being about an eight year old’s language skills or a very unwanted superhero. In reality it’s yet another attempt by Hollywood to remake an antique movie, selling it as an original idea. The original ‘Super Fly’ was released back in 1972 and it is probably forgotten by many and not even known by many more. This time the old school story about Priest, a drug dealer that wants to retire, is brought with a new lick of paint, flashy cars and pretty ladies.
The movie shows us Youngblood Priest (Trevor Jackson), a very timid drug dealer that has avoided detection for years. Priest is not one to mess around with, but he has made sure that over the years he has remained under the radar, meaning that even the authorities don’t know there’s an extra player on the market. Sadly, things are changing in one of the local gangs, and one of its junior members, Juju (Kaalan Walker), wants to bring home the big bucks, hence he wants to take out Priest. After a short scuffle, Juju accidentally shoots a young girl, making things a bit less discrete. While Priest remains calm after nearly being shot in the face, he also realizes it’s time to call it quits. He wishes to do one big score, making sure he has enough money to start a new life and retire without having to look over his shoulder all the time. Sadly, Priest’s old mentor, Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams), doesn’t want to increase Priest’s outtake thus forcing Priest to cut out the middleman and try to contact the cartel directly. Of course, this is not without any danger, as it would betray Scatter and it might offend the cartel.
In the meantime, revenge is exacted upon Sno Patrol, the gang Juju’s part of, behind Priest’s back. This creates even more bad blood between the two groups, making Priest’s retirement even more dangerous to accomplish.
For a movie about drugs and gangs, the flow is actually quite slow and pleasant to watch. While the movie certainly has its fair share of action, there’s a lot of information to go around, as well as the planning of how Priest wants to handle business, while other gangs resort to basic violence and simple plans that always get someone killed or in jail. The overall construction of the movie is well designed and this makes the entire experience interesting to view. We could have done with perhaps a little more action and a bit more character development, but in many ways this could be somewhat of a new ‘Shaft’-type of movie, with a bad guy in the lead.
Even though many actors and actresses pass the revue in this movie, we have to be honest and state that Trevor Jackson singlehandedly carries this movie across the finish line. While the many side-characters, some being more important than others, put down convincing acting performances as well, they simply stand in the shadow of Jackson throughout the entire movie. For some reason Jackson makes his character appealing and somewhat charismatic that you start liking his persona before the movie ends. The latter is certainly a commendable feat as the leading character of the movie is actually a drug dealer, someone who doesn’t immediately deserve praise of sympathy.
As far as extras go on this Blu-ray edition, you’ll be treated to some making of sequences and how they wanted to do the original movie justice. Other than that, there’s a really, really shitty music video that feels like the definition of hip-hop is being raped beyond repair. If you do like it however, there’s also a making of piece about the music clip.
Conclusion
SuperFly might not be the most original idea that was once pitched at a meeting, it turned out to be a fairly enjoyable experience with a non-stereotypical bad guy in the lead. For some reason you somewhat end up sympathizing with Priest before the credits start rolling for how he handles things, by trying to avoid violence or resulting to cavemen-like behavior. The movie is certainly a proper mix between action and a decent crime movie. If you’re looking for some badass scenes on a slow evening, this one is certainly worth considering.
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