SUPERFLY: Convoluted Gangster Remake Lacks Genuine Style

When we first meet Priest (Trevor Jackson), the crown prince of the Atlanta crime scene, he’s walking into a popular club, covered in the blood red hues of a bright neon light. Loud rap music is thundering in the background, but as soon as he walks in the room, the respected hustler shuts it down and a hushed silence quickly spreads. Even as guns are drawn, Priest is unflappable and confident, verbally annihilating a rapper who owes him money. He de-escalates the situation and wins another battle, all without breaking a sweat. Welcome to the world of Superfly.

If only the rest of this remake was as captivating as its dynamite opening sequence. This modern rendition of the 1972 blaxploitation classic has flown under the radar in this busy summer season, attracting more attention for its Future-produced soundtrack (the rapper also has a producer credit on the film) than the actual movie.

But even with a likable cast and some clever gangster mayhem, rising star Director X struggles to keep this endeavor afloat. A tangled mess of subplots and supporting characters that never finds any sufficient payoff, this terribly overlong, disappointingly bland crime saga eventually runs out of steam.

New Take On Blaxploitation Classic

After the eye-catching introduction, we learn a little bit more about Priest’s origins and his crew. When many young hustlers were in the game for the money and the clout, karate dojo/cocaine dealer Scatter (Michael K. Williams) saw ambition in young Priest, mentoring him to a successful and prosperous career. Now, Priest is one of the power players in the city, starting from his garage and working his way up to a lavish mansion.

Along with partner-in-crime Eddie (Jason Mitchell) and love interests Georgia (Lex Scott Davis) and Cynthia (Andrea Londo), the young kingpin runs Atlanta with his cunning business smarts and steely cool demeanor. But with the rise of Snow Patrol, a much showier gang clad in all-white outfits, Priest prepares to enact his exit strategy. He always planned to get out of the game, but this plan could get messy.

To accomplish his goals, Priest will need a significant upgrade on his drug supply. While Scatter is unhelpful, the hustler finds assistance in the real supplier, Adalberto Gonzalez (Esai Morales). One half of the members of the famous Gonzalez cartel family, Adalberto agrees to quadruple the supply if Priest can move the product. With help from Eddie and his connections across the country, Priest turns his low-key business into a nationwide enterprise.

But there are costs to this rapid expansion. As cocaine zigs and zags across the United States and Atlanta, one wrong move from Priest’s crew could put the spotlight on them. The meticulous and calculating businessman has made his living by staying under the radar, but Priest is quickly backing himself into a corner with no easy way out.

Hip-Hop Soundtrack Masks Near-Incoherent Narrative

There’s an almost absurd amount of plot in Superfly, and it’s kind of hilarious to watch the sheer number of subplots increase as the film progresses. There’s the impending war with Snow Patrol, the pact with the Gonzalez cartel, and Priest’s personal reckoning with his friends and his future. Oh, how could I forget to mention the late arrival of two evil cops (Jennifer Morrison and Brian F. Durkin), who threaten to take down the operation if they don’t get a cut of the action.

This is too much for any movie to handle, especially when the events barely connect to each other. The only thing linking all of these different narratives is Priest, and it’s almost like Director X. and screenwriter Alex Tse couldn’t decide which story they really wanted to tell.

There’s something of a snowball effect here, as the characters and storylines quickly pile up to the point that an effective conclusion is practically impossible. By establishing something new and exciting every few minutes, the film grinds to a halt. In the process, it becomes difficult to follow what exactly is happening, who is double-crossing who, or why any of it matters anyway. It is convoluted to the point of incoherence.

Through it all, there’s a familiar and tediously repetitive framework to each and every scene. A song from the soundtrack plays, another complication to the plot is added, and then rinse and repeat. It often feels like the film is merely a showcase for the music, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But when your movie is so thin and so devoid of clear tension and stakes, even an all-star assembly of musical talent can’t save it.

Few Brilliant Moments Amid Messy Crime Saga

Superfly may be preposterous and nonsensical, but I have to give it credit for a few good scenes. Mostly known for his work on famous music videos (including Drake‘s notorious “Hotline Bling” classic), Director X. has some evident skills behind the camera. For every scene where the film is bland and visually indistinct, there’s another moment that is gorgeous to behold. It often feels like a tale of two movies, even if the former wins out more than the latter.

The screenplay’s attempted tackling of social issues is as shaky as its narrative execution, but when Director X gives a sense of cinematic language to these big ideas, the results are surprisingly terrific. One of the standout scenes comes near the end of the film, featuring Priest mercilessly beating a crooked police officer. It’s a brilliant visual twist of the imagery of police brutality, as well as a tremendous slice of revenge fantasy. When the film gives him a chance, Director X‘s style steals the show.

The cast is also pretty great, bringing their talents to a movie where there’s barely any material to work with. Don’t expect much from Priest as a complex and empathetic character, but Trevor Jackson practically exudes cool, commanding the screen even when everything has spiraled into nonsense. The same can be said for the relentlessly charismatic Jason Mitchell, who is the film’s wild card and the main source of much-needed comic relief.

The women of Superfly don’t have much to do, but Lex Scott Davis and Andrea Londo give it their all anyhow. Jennifer Morrison and Brian F. Durkin are appropriately despicable as the morally bankrupt cops, Esai Morales conjures up a good deal of menace as the fearsome dealer, and Michael K. Williams is solid and stoic as the mentor figure. Everyone plays their roles. Nothing more, nothing less.

Superfly: Conclusion

While Superfly‘s strong cast and scattered moments of inspiration are great, it also makes the final product that much more disappointing. There’s a good movie buried somewhere in here, but Director X and the production team let it get away from them.

For all the gunfights and attempts at stylish bravado, Superfly is sorely lacking in consistency on both a visual and narrative level. It’s simultaneously aesthetically impressive and astoundingly unappealing, shockingly straight-forward and hopelessly convoluted. And in the end, it just drags on and on, searching for a finale that can never do justice to this tangled web of crime and betrayal.

What did you think of Superfly? Have you seen the original 1972 classic? Let us know in the comments below!

Superfly was released on June 13, 2018 in the US and will be released on September 14, 2018 in the UK. For all international release dates, see here.