Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Leofwine_draca In the world of unnecessary and often awful remakes, 2000's SHAFT shines through as a good example of what a remake should be: an updating of the previous story set successfully in modern times, with actors sufficient enough to equal the performances in the first film, and one with enough twists and turns to make it surprising and interesting. SHAFT does all of this, dispensing with the plot of the original movie to concentrate on an elaborate, labyrinthine tale of crazed, psychotic drug dealers, corrupt cops, and doughnut-chewing allies.The sheer verve and enthusiasm which goes into the speedily-paced story reminds me instantly of LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS and the energy rubs off on the viewer. Sure, the film is violent but the violence is deserved (aside from the opening murder) and the action is handled nicely and with plenty of style, including an excellent car stunt. The plot sits on the line between complex and muddled without going overboard on elaborate set-ups or contrived situations and the 'street level' atmosphere rubs off, creating a realistic movie you can really get into.In the title role, Samuel L. Jackson shines and comes off more than adequately. Although he can never hope to attain the iconic status of original star Richard Roundtree (incidentally making a welcome cameo appearance as 'Uncle Shaft' this time around), he's certainly better than need be for what is essentially a popcorn movie, and the cast that supports him is also great. In particular, kudos to Jeffrey Wright, who fits the role of his slimy drug dealer character so well that actor and character are indistinguishable (witness my surprise to see him out-of-character in a documentary, softly-spoken and 180 degrees from the character he portrays in the movie) and Christian Bale, reprising his American PSYCHO shtick as a cold-blooded bad guy you love to hate and doing very well with it. The female support is also strong, with Vanessa Williams proving her worth as a sassy female cop - a little underused however - and Australia's Toni Collette utterly believable as the harassed female witness. Busta Rhymes also joins LL Cool J as a rapper who is mildly amusing in the movies. Finally, the revamped Isaac Hayes music is back and as hummable as ever, rounding off what is a thoroughly involving slick action picture.

EBJ Overall: Pretty bad movie and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I was very bored and it is just not a good movie. Definitely skip it.Good: Samuel Jackson and Christian Bale do good jobs with what they have throughout the movie. Some other minor characters did a good job also. I really liked the music and thought it blended well with the more 80's cop side of the movie.Bad: The movie feels pointless due to the 'shock' ending twist which makes me feel as if I had wasted my time watching it. It is good to see him punished but I would have preferred for him to see the inside of a cell. The characters are just sheer unlikeable or you don't care or they have no real motivations. It also don't feel like it knows what it is. One side you've got the goofy 80's cop show feel with groovy music and cheesy dialogue while on the other side you've got the uber serious story featuring themes of race and discrimination. Not to say that serious comedies can't work but if that was the intention it was done abysmally. The action scenes were horrific and just bored me throughout them, especially the final climax. The movie tried to cram in too many characters when a protagonist, antagonist and 1-2 cop buddies would have sufficed. Also unless I missed the scene in which he rejoins the police force then I refuse to let it slide that he broke the law numerous times and got away with it.Best Part: The opening 20 minutes were they catch Bale made me interested in the story and were they could take it but that interest was short lived.MVP: Samuel Jackson as John Shaft3/10

capone666 The hardest part about being a black cop is not getting shot by white cops when you pull your gun.The honkies in this action movie, however, know better than to mess with Shaft.When rich white boy Wade Jr. (Christian Bale) is accused of killing a black man (Mekhi Phifer), no nonsense detective John Shaft is assigned to the racially charged case. But the accused is allowed to flee the country when the only witness (Toni Collette) goes missing.Unrelenting, Shaft spends the next two years searching for her.When he finds her, Wade Jr. serendipitously returns Stateside with a sadistic drug lord (Jeffrey Wright) on his payroll.John Singleton's much-maligned reboot of Shaft isn't as blasphemes as perceived, with Sam Jackson serving as a worthy successor to Richard Roundtree.Besides, young African Americans need to be exposed to influential Black icons before the CIA assassinates them all.Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

daviddaphneredding Samuel L. Jackson is here in one of his best roles ever as the black no-nonsense NYC detective John Shaft who's mean, yet good-hearted and caring in his own strange and rough way; he's especially kind toward the scared bar waitress, played well by Toni Collette. He didn't mind being mean toward the Hispanic Peeples Hernandez, the part Jeffrey Wright played so convincingly. It was, to say the very least, extremely refreshing to see Vanessa Williams who portrayed Carmen Vasquez. Christian Bale, a very versatile actor, was the smart-aleck Walter Wade, Jr, for whom no sensible person could have any sympathy. Also, the unforgettable Richard Roundtree made a surprise, yet not-surprising, appearance as the "original" John Shaft, here John Shaft's uncle. Naturally, Isaac Hayes' musical contribution was a mind-sticker. And too, it is obvious that the director John Singleton made a great accomplishment. But while it was allegedly a serious drama, because of the filthy persiflage on the part of Jackson toward Wright and a few others, I was led to laugh, and did. They did for sure get carried away there. And yet, it was a story about a serious detective who hated injustice with a passion. Samuel L. Jackson, again, made you believe here that he was "the man who would risk his neck for fellow-man" for sure.