I'm Gonna Git You Sucka

''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' is a 1988 American blaxploitation parody film written, directed by and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans in his directorial debut. Featured in the film are several noteworthy African-American actors who were part of the genre of blaxploitation: Jim Brown, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas and Isaac Hayes. It co-stars John Vernon, Kadeem Hardison, Ja'net Dubois, John Witherspoon, Damon Wayans, Clarence Williams III, Dawnn Lewis, and Chris Rock, and acts as the film debuts of comedian Robin Harris and brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans.

The film entered a limited theatrical release on December 14, 1988, before expanding to a wide release 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 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 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'' film critic Roger Ebert 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 (Hammer), Jim Brown (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 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.

''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 released the film on Blu-ray.

See also

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

References

External links

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{{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