New Jack City

The atmosphere of the 90s is striking and drug-infested, with dozens of black gangsters with egg-sized gold rings portrayed very interestingly, and in a sense, even brutally. Young Wesley Snipes and young Chris Rock, who is almost unrecognizable here, deserve attention, but above all the devilish Ice-T, whom I had never outside a direct-to-video B-movie, but here, he delivers a captivating performance; his half-crazed cop is flawless. The rise and fall of the drug lord is not described in such detail, and the film rather focuses on hard street fights, rivalry, and drugs themselves. An interesting, tough, and dirty film, but one that did not grow close to my heart. (2008-05-13)