Despite having dated about as successfully as Ulrika Jonsson, Mario Van Peebles' voyeuristic exposé of the logistics of running an urban crack war still manages to get its defiantly unambiguous point across with both power and style. This is thanks largely to a handful of strong performances from some pretty unlikely suspects. Ice-T, in particular, is impressively convincing as the streetwise cop hell-bent on avenging his mother's death at the hands of a gangbanging, junkie shitbag.
Elsewhere, not everything is quite so rosy: director Van Peebles wisely limits his role to that of barking commissioner Stone in a purely scene-linking series of cameos, while token honky Judd Nelson is on risibly clodhopping form as T's "badass with a heart of gold" partner. (As he smugly whoops two minutes into a decently put-together behind the scenes featurette: "I couldn't believe I was getting paid to make this movie!" Neither can we, Judd - you get fewer lines than an Amish prefect, you great lump.) However, endearingly naïve turns from Allen Payne and Chris Rock keep an inevitably arcane-looking script ticking over nicely enough, while Wes Snipes is as reliable as ever in the role of ludicrously despicable overlord Nino. When Nino takes over a downtown apartment block to launch a crack farm, the strong arm of the law finds itself having to flex somewhat harder than usual.
Van Peebles' enthusiastic commentary is respectably revealing, despite occasionally straying into distinctly worthy-sounding territory (diverting anecdotes about trying to shoot drugs movies in drug-fractured neighbourhoods are peppered with grating platitudes about - who'd have thunk it? - the destructive powers of addiction). It would've been nice to see him explain in more depth precisely why New Jack City remains relevant today, despite looking for the most part like a particularly low-budget Sugarhill Gang video (some of the bling on display wouldn't appear out of place welded to the hull of a luxury steamer).
Crucially, though, it is still relevant, because no amount of clunky street slang or achingly '90s rapid-fire editing can dent the timelessness of the film's central message. It's as much about the insidious evil of wanton greed as it is about the horror of addiction; as much about the unseen wreckage of the profit-driven Ronald Reagan years as it is about hard-nosed street pushers and their cadaverous, semi-willing victims.
In terms of overall execution, New Jack City's flaws are many and varied. Despite this, the film remains a carefully considered response to an ongoing (and arguably insurmountable) 21st century problem, and thus deserves consideration as more than an anachronistic (ghetto) blaster. Honest, entertaining, thought-provoking stuff.
DVD Extras:
Commentary with Mario Van Peebles
The Road To New Jack City featurette
NJC: A Hip Hop Classic featurette
Harlem World: A Walk Inside featurette
Three music videos
