Mario Van Peebles made his feature film directorial debut in New Jack City where he also co-stars with Ice T, Judd Nelson, Chris Rock and Wesley Snipes in this urban thriller dealing with the rise of a black gangster from the mid 1980s in New York City as he deals in crack cocaine and takes out the competition.
Wesley Snipes is the smart but ruthless aspiring Crime Lord very much modelled on Al Pacino's Scarface. In fact at one point we even see footage of Scarface on the big screen playing in the background. However the film also introduces elements of The Untouchables as Ice T and Judd Nelson play combative detectives in a crime unit trying to bring the gang down.
The film was very hip when it was released as it starts with fast cuts, hip hop music and strong violence as it sets out its stall but as the film progresses things are more measured as the pace slows down to introduce drama as the police try to close in on Nino who starts having problems of his own as schisms start to appear in his gang.
The film is uneven, Snipes is very good but Ice T is not. Rock shows promise in an early role but his subsequent career shows that he did not progress much as a screen actor with his comedy shtick. Its also preachy here and there with its anti drug message and not a well written movie. Just look at the clunky way the war with the Italian mafia is dealt with as the Don is sitting on a table outside soon after he has tried to kill Nino.
Once the opening zest and energy of the film dissipates it becomes very much a routine thriller, a stylish one but routine.
Wesley Snipes is the smart but ruthless aspiring Crime Lord very much modelled on Al Pacino's Scarface. In fact at one point we even see footage of Scarface on the big screen playing in the background. However the film also introduces elements of The Untouchables as Ice T and Judd Nelson play combative detectives in a crime unit trying to bring the gang down.
The film was very hip when it was released as it starts with fast cuts, hip hop music and strong violence as it sets out its stall but as the film progresses things are more measured as the pace slows down to introduce drama as the police try to close in on Nino who starts having problems of his own as schisms start to appear in his gang.
The film is uneven, Snipes is very good but Ice T is not. Rock shows promise in an early role but his subsequent career shows that he did not progress much as a screen actor with his comedy shtick. Its also preachy here and there with its anti drug message and not a well written movie. Just look at the clunky way the war with the Italian mafia is dealt with as the Don is sitting on a table outside soon after he has tried to kill Nino.
Once the opening zest and energy of the film dissipates it becomes very much a routine thriller, a stylish one but routine.