Director: Mario Van Peebles
Writer: Thomas Lee Wright, Barry Michael Cooper (Screenplay)
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Allen Payne, Chris Rock, Mario Van Peebles, Michael Michele, Bill Nunn, Judd Nelson
Plot: A crime lord ascends to power and becomes megalomaniacal while a maverick police detective vows to stop him.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Good Addition to Gangster Genre
Story: New Jack City starts in New York City as the drug war is sky high with drug maverick Nino Brown (Snipes) has a plan to dominate the cities drug trafficking process. When Nino gets complete control over an apartment building where he produces the product holding the resident’s prisoners.
Two years have passed and now Detective Stone (Peebles) wants Appleton (Ice-T) and Nick Peretti (Nelson) to lead an investigation to take down Nino. Hiring former dealer Pookie (Rock) to go undercover due to his tight connection with Nino we are left to see how they plan on taking down Nino.
Thoughts on New Jack City
Characters/Performance – Nino is what you would call a brilliant drug kingpin that fully controls the operation and a threat to the city, he will kill anyone that gets in his way. Scotty is the cop that pushes the limits too often making this battle against drugs personal. Nick is the disgraced cop from another town but doesn’t fit into the neighbourhood but is also just as committed to bringing down Nino.
Performance wise, Snipes does shine in this leading role getting to have a lot of fun with his performance, Ice-T is good but not as convincing to this world, with Judd Nelson giving us as good supporting role. Chris Rock should get praise for his performance which I believe was one of his first roles.
Story – The story bottles down to the rise and fall of Nino Brown or any other generic crime boss, this is because we have him start his operation and facing enemies from police and other drug bosses. This isn’t the most original story but is a good watch for anyone who is a fan of the genre.
Action/Crime – The action when needed is mostly wild gun battles that show the chaos the drug wars can cause. The crime side of the story comes from the idea that we are dealing with drugs circulating around the big city.
Settings – New York City is a great choice for the setting because it shows the different sides of the tracks the people can all come from in this war.
Final Thoughts – When it comes to the drug related films I am not the biggest fan but this one is an easy watch for the fans of the genre.
Overall: This is a good addition to the genre that has its place in the gangster history.
Rating
