'Shaft' Reviews: What Are Critics Saying About The New Sequel?

Reviews for director Tim Story’s entry in the “Shaft” series have dropped. The new film, “Shaft” – not to be confused with the 1973 original, “Shaft,” or Samuel L. Jackson’s “Shaft” from 2000 – stars Jessie Usher as John Shaft Jr., who must team up with his estranged father, John Shaft II (Jackson), and his grand-uncle, the original John Shaft (Richard Roundtree), to solve the mysterious death of his close friend.

So, what do critics have to say about this latest film? Well, it appears the cats that won’t cop out have seen much better days, though most reactions to the sequel seem more lukewarm than outright negative. Here are a few samples of the early reactions.

IGN Movies – William Bibbiani:

“Shaft (2019) takes the franchise and turns it into an unremarkable and disappointing comedy, which is ostensibly about a murder mystery but takes more time telling jokes about how millennials are wimps, old people don’t understand computers, and how John Shaft Sr. really doesn’t want his son to act gay.”

Chicago Tribune – Katie Walsh:

“...every cheap jab at metrosexual millennials just comes off as mean-spirited, dripping in the kind of toxic masculinity JJ's generation has been trying to throw off. The too-little too-late lessons in manhood from his father consist of sexually objectifying women, and even worse, sexually objectifying firepower.”

A.V. Club – Ignatiy Vishnevetsky:

“Among all the cardinal sins of moviemaking it commits (up to and including reusing an iconic needle drop from a Martin Scorsese movie), the worst is this: It makes Shaft look uncool.”

Even the more positive-leaning takes feel mixed.

The Wrap – Candice Frederick:

“Though there is a comforting nostalgia from seeing the Shaft men stick it to the man while simultaneously holding on to their old-school alpha-male swagger, Junior’s presence adds a much needed reproach — and smartly comedic element — that ultimately doesn’t blame them but instead makes them take a hard look at the error of their ways in the face of justice.”

Hollywood Reporter – Todd McCarthy:

“It's all terribly contrived but, thanks to Samuel L. Jackson, this reboot of a reboot manages to resurrect stray moments of '70s-era, go-it-alone impudence and irreverence that still carry a certain appeal.”

Warner Bros. will release "Shaft" nationwide in the U.S. on Friday. The film will debut on Netflix in all other territories on June 28.