New Jack City (1991)

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

One of the very best movies ever produced. Wesley Snipes was superb as gangsta Nino Brown as was Alan Payne as G-Money, Nino Brown's side-kick. In fact, the entire movie was wonderfully cast.As other reviewers have mentioned, the movie delivers an important message...yet at the same time it is riveting and hilarious at the same time. There are many politically incorrect racial and ethic slurs tossed about so the sensitive viewers may want to beware.Non-stop action that is marvelously delivered by all the actors and actresses. This movie has been described as a sort of Gone With The Wind for the Gangsta population and a break through film for Wesley Snipes.

today, a great gangster movie (The Departed, American Gangster) feels rare. some so generic, it's "been there, done that" or "same old sh!t" or "who cares?," but when it's great, it's not just remembered, it's revered. New Jack City doesn't just match the aforementioned titles, but deserves a spot next to Scarface, The Untouchables, and (I dare say) The Godfather trilogy in terms of epic crime cinema. as helmed by the remarkable Mario Van Peebles, this underrated gem is smart, stylish, mean, violent, and even carries a cerebral message, covering so much ground in just its first act alone, examining every angle from the dawn of the crack era (late 80s to early 90s), the flash lifestyles of it's all-too-real villains, drug addiction, and the seemingly futile efforts at rehabilitation. brutal and truthful enough not to patronize, Van Peebles's bleak look at the damaging drug epidemic screams for a police victory against the one vicious criminal perpetuating things for no other motive than his own ambition. that criminal is Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes), a street-smart outlaw turned self-made drug czar so clever, he not only corners the drug trade, but dominates the competition by savagely butchering anyone in his path. so slick and methodical, Brown starts his regime by hijacking a large New York tenement project as his base of operations, its profits building an empire (known on the street as the CMB, Cash Money Brothers) worth millions. and while Brown relishes his lavish lifestyle, this not only angers the organized crime element, but forces the police, namely the determined Stone (Van Peebles), to resort to extreme measures. realizing the only way to beat Brown is by playing by his rules, Stone recruits two wild card cops to strip Brown of his throne. Scotty (Ice T) is a street-wise undercover cop with a hatred for Brown's particular type of scumbag, and Peretti (Judd Nelson), a borderline racist with a very dark past of his own, essentially have no rules and if it means sending the just-recovered crack head, Pookie (Chris Rock), into the depths of hell to get what they need to either catch or kill Brown, then it's a start. the movie isn't just a gangster flick or an anti-drug film (aside from Pookie's stint in rehab, it's rarely preachy), but a strong character piece. Brown, being the main focus, is anything but simple. we see him flourish while the neighborhood he controls goes to ruin and when business is good, he savors the flavor of friendship, especially with right-hand Gee Money (Allen Payne), only to choke on his own hypocrisy once Scotty and Peretti close in, turning Brown into a nasty and often violent monster. Snipes's portrayal of this iconic bad guy is fierce and unapologetic, both emotional and despicable, very human, but never redeemable, making you pray for Brown to receive his comeuppance, preferably if its bloody. arguably one of the most unappreciated performances of the time (I, for one, thought Snipes was nothing short of Oscar-worthy), this is one of the first villains that made me appreciate the worth of the bad guy while eagerly rooting for the heroes. it's not only villainy at its coldest, but Snipes at his finest. Ice T, Van Peebles, Rock, and Nelson provide excellent support and other class acts like Bill Nunn (as Brown's stuttering muscle) and Bill Cobbs (a citizen who easily hates Brown more than anyone in the movie) make unforgettable appearances. Van Peebles deserves more credit for this stellar film than he's received. this work of art should've catapulted him up there with names like Stone, DePalma, Mann, and Coppola. focused, devoted, and compelling, you have to love this man. even with its dark and often-enough, sad vibe, Van Peebles's gangster epic is very airtight with immense rewatch value. all that said, the last scene is really, really great. i'd say this is a must-see for fans of gangster flicks, but that's an understatement. it should be required viewing for any film fan and at the very least, respected for Snipes's venomous turn as one of the worst a$$holes in film. everybody needs to see this. in my humble opinion, it's a classic.

"Nino Brown" (Wesley Snipes) is a vicious drug dealer in New York City who has just learned of a new method for making cocaine even more addictive. Realizing the money to be made on this new novelty called "crack" he immediately corners the market and profits handsomely from those he has made addicted. Naturally, where there are huge profits there are also competitors who want in on the action. Ditto the fact that the police also want to corral him. But while they have been unsuccessful so far a new person named "Detective Stone" (Mario Van Peebles) is now assigned the task and he hires the two most aggressive cops he can find named "Scotty Appleton" (Ice T) and "Nick Peretti" (Judd Nelson) in order to nail Neno once and for all. Anyway, rather than detail the entire story and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a pretty good blaxploitation movie for the most part. I especially liked the performances of both Wesley Snipes and Chris Rock (as the drug addict "Pookie"). Along with that it certainly didn't hurt having two attractive actresses like Michael Michele (as "Selena") and Vanessa Williams ("Keisha") either. And while the movie was pretty graphic I thought the director (Mario Van Peebles) handled the subject matter quite competently. As such I rate it as above average.

I don't normally write reviews, but this film annoyed me so much I felt compelled to put some of my opinions forward.Firstly, the script. I really couldn't get over how terrible it was, given the good reviews I'd read before watching the film. Don't get me wrong, I like a brainless, thoughtless actioner as much as anyone, maybe more, but I at least want my action scenes to be strung together with some kind of purpose. Here, stuff just happened. The film would be going in one direction and then, with the flick of a switch, that idea would be abandoned and we'd go after something else. The end in particular suffered from this problem, and left me thinking, "WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!"Another massive problem I had was with the acting. I'm sure Ice-T has plenty of fans out there, but I couldn't even put up with how bad his acting was in this. It was just atrocious. I wasn't even able to enjoy it in an amused way, because I really got the impression he thought he was being cool. Judd Nelson as his partner also annoyed me, because he seemed to be in the film for no reason other than to have a white guy in the cast. Most of the time he said and did nothing, and in the one scene where he actually takes part in a conversation, I couldn't help but feel that whatever he was saying was irrelevant.The film did, however, have one saving grace - Wesley Snipes. As bad as everything else was, Snipes was really having fun here, and it shows. Like a black Tony Montana, he chews up every scene he's in, (mostly) overcoming the lame script he has to work with. Sadly though, it's not enough to save what was otherwise a very long 90 minutes. Check it out for Snipes, but don't necessarily expect to come away smiling.