From the trailers, Black Dynamite looks like a forgotten cousin of Super Fly and Coffy that you’ve never heard of, the bastard son of Black Belt Jones and Willie Dynamite. Even the production values capture the on-the-cheap vibe of the classic blaxploitation flicks, like a feature-length version of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” video.

But Black Dynamite is the brain child of Michael Jai White, a martial arts expert who’s appeared alongside “stars” like Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme (he was also the lead in Spawn, and had a role in The Dark Knight). But he’s not instantly recognizable, which is what makes the whole thing work — if you knew who he was, the illusion would be gone. (Granted, there are also familiar faces like Arsenio Hall and Tommy Davidson, appearing as “Tasty Freeze” and “Cream Corn.”)

Blaxploitation spoofs have been around pretty much since the genre was invented. Rudy Ray Moore‘s Dolemite came out back in ’75, and from I’m Gonna Git You Sucka to Pootie Tang to Undercover Brother, not to mention whatever Snoop Dogg was doing in the Starsky and Hutch remake, it’s still a favorite target for comedy writers.

But while Dynamite, co-written by White, Byron Keith Minns, and director Scott Sanders, is definitely tongue in cheek, the key to its potential badassness is that, at least in the trailers, it never breaks character. It doesn’t let on that it’s a fake, just plays the ridiculousness of the cliché to the hilt. Afros, pimpmobiles, headbands, kung fu, leather car coats, malt liquor, and Oldsmobile Cutlasses crashing through walls of cardboard boxes — you can tell this movie is a labor of love, from the writing to the cinematography to the unbelievable costume design.

Black Dynamite is set to premiere at Sundance in January, where hopefully it’ll pick up distribution, because this looks like the funniest thing to come along in a while. To quote the man, “Hey, all you jive hustlers, you stone foxes, you mean dudes — watch out!”

Tags: black dynamite, steven seagal, sundance