spoof of , and homage to , the genre whose films like `` Black Caesar , '' `` The Mac , '' `` Foxy Brown , '' and `` Superfly '' have developed a cult following over the years . `` Black Dynamite '' caught the eye of Sony Pictures at the Sundance Film Festival and the studio acquired the rights to distribute the film . A viral marketing campaign helped whip up anticipation for the movie , which also features former late-night talk show host Arsenio Hall and `` In Living Color '' cast member Tommy Davidson as pimps . Director Scott Sanders said he has always been fascinated by the fact that while blaxploitation really only grabbed hold of the industry for about five years during the early 1970s , it was so influential . `` It was such an extreme genre with the look and the music and there were really no boundaries or rules , '' he said . `` It 's always been a fascination for me given how much it influenced hip-hop , black culture and culture as a whole , given the brevity . '' White , best known for his roles in
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Actor Michael Jai White thinks the negative connotation surrounding the term `` blaxploitation film '' is a bunch of jive . Michael Jai White stars in the new spoof `` Black Dynamite . '' `` The problem I have with the word is that it seems to encompass movies that do n't fall under that category , '' White said . `` As soon as you hear the title ` Shaft ' people think ` blaxploitation ' and that is absolutely unfair because that film was made before the term even existed . '' White , the star and co-writer of the new movie `` Black Dynamite , '' would rather people focus on what he views as the positives of the genre of 1970s urban action films starring African-American actors . His new movie , which opened in limited release last weekend and will start going wider , follows the exploits of Black Dynamite , a former CIA agent who takes to the streets after his brother is killed by the mafia , orphanages are flooded with drugs and some bad malt liquor finds its way into the ` hood . It is both a