THE MOVIE
We open with a dude getting himself ready in the morning and musing to his best friend that he is getting fat. It's Halloween and our man here, Reggie, is excited to be going to work at the post office dressed up as my main man Jim Kelly! And you can tell how excited he is by the amount of effort he has put in to his costume!
To my surprise, absolutely no one realises who he is supposed to be. He tells a customer he is Jim Kelly, and her response is "That fine brother that started all them karate movies?" and I'm immediately a fan of her and this movie. Anyways, Reggie and Sandra - his best friend, who also works at the post office but is not dressed as Jim Kelly - discover a package that has been in the post office for 30 years. It was meant for a Cleavon Washington, but never made it. A crazy man enters the post office and takes one of Reggie's co-workers hostage, so he opens the package and discovers some nunchakus. Why did he feel the need to open a 30 year-old package in this frightening moment, I do not know. But the nunchakus are magical.
Reggie tries to distract the madman by doing some ninja movies, but messes up his backflip and falls over, which just makes the crazy dude laugh. So it actually kind of works; he lets the girl go and runs away... after throwing a live grenade. Everyone escapes before the explosion, but Reggie remembers he saw an old lady in there and is worried she didn't make it out. I'm worried about how awful her makeup is. So he goes back in and tries to save her, but instead she just transfers some magical powers to Reggie.
Meanwhile, a dude named Black Lightning is having trouble with a shoe he ordered. He's undefeated because he has never lost a fight, and he will never lose a shoe.
So Reggie goes home and gets some rest, but is woken in the middle of the night by his phone going crazy; turns out the jerks he work with took the video of him looking silly and posted it on the internet. Also turns out all his friends are jerks and call him in the middle of the night. Try that shit with LOGMAN and you'll get a phone up your patooty. Anyways, Jay Leno and some other TV shows are making fun of Reggie because the internet is mean.
This part is actually real; the guy who wrote and directed this movie was ridiculed on the internet for this very same video of him messing up a flip. Internet jerks.
Meanwhile, Reggie's Aunt Mary has been having trouble at her restaurant; turns out this Black Lightning dude is trying to run her out of business. Was she the one that messed up his shoe order?
Anyways, apparently Reggie has to go back to work because the post office was rebuilt in a day? Except Reggie has woken up with some changes; he's now very buff, doesn't need glasses, is fluent in Japanese, and is sporting a super funky afro. And he has martial arts skills like he's Jim Kelly.
Sandra is now very attracted to him. Gosh, he's still the same good person inside, Sandra! The fact you couldn't see that before says more about you! Black Lightning sends some dudes to go mess up Aunt Mary's restaurant, so Reggie goes down and gives them a whooping. Then he starts using his new skills to help the people in the community; he starts fighting crime and bringing people together to do renovations. Black Lightning chews out his henchmen for being useless. And wearing blue.
Sandra is now very attracted to him. Gosh, he's still the same good person inside, Sandra! The fact you couldn't see that before says more about you! Black Lightning sends some dudes to go mess up Aunt Mary's restaurant, so Reggie goes down and gives them a whooping. Then he starts using his new skills to help the people in the community; he starts fighting crime and bringing people together to do renovations. Black Lightning chews out his henchmen for being useless. And wearing blue.
Reggie and Sandra decide its time to track down this Cleavon Washington so they can figure out what is going on, and it leads them to a bad part of town and an abandoned warehouse. Inside, they find pictures of a Japanese Ninja Master and another Ninja Master - Cleavon Washington. Who just happens to be my main man Jim Kelly!
Which makes no sense, because in this world Jim Kelly is real. So wouldn't their immediate reaction to seeing these pictures be something like "Oh wow it's Jim Kelly!"??
Reggie sees another picture of a little boy and recognises it from his Aunt's home - a picture of himself as a little boy! Could Reggie be the son of Cleavon Washington?
Anyways, after getting it on with Sandra, Reggie is visited in the night by the spirit of the Japanese Ninja Master, who explains everything to Reggie. Then Reggie uses these superpowers to go defeat Black Lightning and put an end to his evil plans to take over the neighbourhood. And gets a new Mayor installed, because the previous one was in cahoots with Black Lightning? And wins a car? Holy shit, I gotta get me some of these magical nunchakus.
REACTION
This a low-budget homage to blaxploitation and martial arts movies of the 70s and 80s; it's all pretty harmless and a hell of a lot of fun. It isn't an over the top riot like Undercover Brother, but it has heart and I would dare say it is somewhat charming. There were a whole bunch of nods to other movies that were cool and probably a whole bunch I didn't even know. Mark Hicks has that nice guy quality that makes him perfect for this type of character; a down on his luck guy that just wants to do good and help others. And that makes Black Lighting the perfect foil, because the dude is the most cliched black villain you could ask for. He is hilarious.
JIM KELLY
My man appeared for about 2 minutes at the end of the movie to finally meet his son and tell him he is proud of him. It was a very minor thing, but I liked that the character of Cleavon Washington still followed what Jim Kelly usually played in the movies; a guy that cared about his community and empowering black people and minorities, fighting against The Man to make a difference. I would guess that was one of the reasons he agreed to do this movie, since he hadn't made a film in 27 years! If you see anything on his credits between One Down, Two to Go and Afro Ninja: Destiny, it is a lie. Believe me. His cameo in Undercover Brother was cut (what a crime) and I watched Stranglehold and Ultimatum intently. Neither featured this Jim Kelly at all. Wasting my gawdam time, IMDB...
This isn't some incredible film. This isn't some groundbreaking drama. But if you go in to watching this movie with an appreciation for the films it is paying tribute to, then it works well and is entertaining. Honestly, I was actually surprised. The aspect ration on Tubi is messed up, but it is still watchable. A really fitting way to end the Jim Kelly June Jamboree.
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