I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
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''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' is a 1988 American
blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...
parody film A parody film or spoof film is a subgenre of comedy film that lampoons other film genres or films as pastiches, works created by imitation of the style of many different films reassembled together. Although the subgenre is often overlooked by cri ...
written, directed by and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans in his directorial debut. Featured in the film are several noteworthy
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
actors who were part of the genre of blaxploitation:
Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional American football, football player, civil rights activist, and actor. He played as a Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the ...
, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas and
Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...
. It co-stars John Vernon, Kadeem Hardison, Ja'net Dubois, John Witherspoon,
Damon Wayans Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. (; born September 4, 1960) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, and writer. A member of the Wayans family of entertainers, Damon performed as a comedian and actor throughout the 1980s, including a brief stint ...
, Clarence Williams III, Dawnn Lewis, and Chris Rock, and acts as the film debuts of comedian Robin Harris and brothers Shawn and
Marlon Wayans Marlon Lamont Wayans (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for his work with his brother Shawn Wayans on The WB sitcom ''The Wayans Bros.'' (1995–1999) and the comedy films ''Don't Be a M ...
. The film entered a
limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
on December 14, 1988, before expanding to a
wide release In the motion picture industry, a wide release (short for nationwide release) is a film playing at the same time at cinemas in most markets across a country. This is in contrast to the formerly common practice of a roadshow theatrical release in ...
on January 11, 1989. It was commercially successful, grossing $13 million, and received mixed reviews from critics.


Plot

When soldier Jack Spade learns that his brother Junebug overdosed on gold chains and died, he returns to Any Ghetto, U.S.A, where he is met by his mother and Cheryl. As he surveys the old neighborhood, Jack notices the impact that gold chains have had on his neighborhood and feels that not only should his brother's death be made right, but the entire neighborhood as well. He vows to destroy Mr. Big, the neighborhood chain lord responsible for the epidemic that claimed Junebug's life. Jack asks for the aid of his childhood idol and local hero John Slade in planning the demise of Mr. Big's empire. Together, they form a team including Kung Fu Joe, Flyguy, Slammer, and Hammer. Mr. Big sets out to cut down the team in retaliation, which results in a variety of calamity befalling the group; Kung Fu Joe is shot over and over again by police officers while Hammer accidentally shoots himself repeatedly. Cheryl is kidnapped by the criminals while John is blown up when slowly approaching the window in the raid. Slammer is shot in the foot that seemingly leaves only Jack to take on the gang (when approached by his mother with a shotgun, he elects to lock her in the closet). Eventually, Jack meets Mr. Big, who is shot by a still-smoldering John that leads to the end of the gold trade in the streets while both Cheryl and Jack and John and Belle embrace each other.


Cast


Background

The film was written and directed by first-time director Keenan Ivory Wayans. The inspiration behind the film came from Wayans, who is a fan of blaxploitation films, and his childhood spent growing up watching these films as they made up the majority of black films made during the 1970s. Sitting with friends and making fun of the genre struck the idea for the film in Wayans. Before making ''I’m Gonna Git You Sucka'', Wayans spent five years earning credentials for films such as '' Hollywood Shuffle'' and '' Eddie Murphy Raw''.
Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...
suggested the concept of a blaxploitation parody and its title. Once Wayans earned enough credibility to have his film picked up by a studio and a budget of $3 million, Wayans filmed his debut feature film in 32 days. It grossed a total of $3 million in the box office in the first month of the film's release.


Critical reception

''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' has an approval rating of 62% on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
from 29 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads "''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' puts a satirical spin on '70s nostalgia with a comedy whose somewhat scattershot laughs are often offset by pure energetic silliness." ''I’m Gonna Git You Sucka'' received critical receptions that were wide-ranging and numerous in viewpoint. The film opened to rave responses from the black community, who felt the film captured the era of blaxploitation films from the 1970s. Black audience members were thrilled to attend the screening of a movie filled with black actors about a black film genre. Critics also noted Wayans’ ability to satirically capture the trope of the " Buck" in blaxploitation film: the white man's notion of the all-powerful brutal black man. In her analysis of the film, Harriet Margolis wrote that this is not because " ackconsciously chooses to reject his mother’s values as that he wants to establish his own based on the macho heroic values he learned during the heyday of blaxploitation films." Historian Robert Sklar wrote, "The laxploitation filmmovement quickly developed into a phenomenon not of an African-American audience but of a specific subgroup, a segment of a segment: young urban males,” so often the perspective and narratives of young black women were left out or included as the background in many of these films during the 1970s. Critics of the film argued that the film not only failed at producing humor in its use of black stereotypes, but generally was not funny. ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' film critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
wrote ''I’m Gonna Git You Sucka'' is "a comedy that feeds off the blaxploitation movie, and although, like all good satires, it is cheerfully willing to be offensive, it is almost completely incapable of being funny." There was also a concern about the perception of the film from white moviegoing audiences. The film's villain, Mr. Big, is not only a white man, but a white man responsible for the deterioration of an inner city black community.


Television pilot

On December 15, 1990, the hour-long television pilot titled ''Hammer, Slammer, & Slade'' was shown on ABC-TV. It was directed by Michael Schultz.
Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...
(Hammer),
Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional American football, football player, civil rights activist, and actor. He played as a Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the ...
(Slammer), and Bernie Casey (Slade) continued in their parts from the movie ''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka''. Also returning were Ja'Net DuBois and Steve James. Although Keenen Ivory Wayans wrote the pilot, and he served as the executive producer, he did not appear in this pilot. Instead, the character of Jack Spade was portrayed by Eriq La Salle. Fast-talking Lennie, played by
Damon Wayans Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. (; born September 4, 1960) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, and writer. A member of the Wayans family of entertainers, Damon performed as a comedian and actor throughout the 1980s, including a brief stint ...
in the film, was played by Bentley Kyle Evans, while his sidekick Willie, played by Kadeem Hardison in the film, was played by a then-unknown
Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on '' Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor and comedian. Lawrence began his career doing comedy shows, including in '' The Improv''. After his first acting role in t ...
. ''Hammer, Slammer, & Slade'' was not sold to any TV network, but it was shown several times in syndication.


Home media

In 2001, ''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' was released on DVD and in 2010, it was digitized in High Definition (1080i) and released on MGM HD. In 2016,
Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art film, art ho ...
released the film on Blu-ray.


See also

* '' Hollywood Shuffle'' (1987) * '' Black Dynamite'' (2009)


References


External links

* * * {{Keenen Ivory Wayans 1988 films 1988 action comedy films 1980s parody films 1988 black comedy films 1988 directorial debut films 1980s American films 1980s vigilante films 1980s exploitation films American action comedy films American black comedy films American parody films 1980s English-language films African-American comedy films Blaxploitation films Films set in Indiana American films about revenge Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films United Artists films Films directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans Films scored by David Michael Frank African-American films American vigilante films American exploitation films English-language black comedy films English-language action comedy films