If you’re a fan of Black 80s goodness from jheri curls, high-top fades, neon spandex, big hair and funky beats then you may want to check out Lanfia Wal’s retro comedy New Jack Fury. The title clearly is indicative of a love letter to crime flicks, the setting of Wal’s movie is a fictional urban sprawl of New Jack City, and it delivers everything you’d expect from a throwback actioner — gunfights, car chases, funky fashion, and more one-liners than a stand-up special. What we get is a metropolis dripping in swagger, sweat, synth, strippers, and a whole lot of shadiness.
In our story we meet Dylan Gamble (Andre Hall) a hard-nosed undercover cop determined to bring down the powerful Styles Syndicate. But then bureaucracy cuts his mission short. Of course, there’s a bit more to the story. Gamble was fired for slapping his boss with a 24-inch dildo in a knee jerk response to being angry. He’s now left to rebuild his life, until the past comes roaring back.
His girlfriend Tanisha (Ally Renee) is tragically kidnapped by one of the villains of the Styles Syndicate, led by the smooth and ruthless Silkwaan “Silk” Styles (Page Kennedy). This leads Gamble back into the world he tried to leave behind. But this time, he’s not going at it alone. Enter Hendrix Moon (Paul Wheeler), a small-time crook and club owner with a big personality, and Leslie Kindall (Dean “Michael Trapson” Morrow), a mild-mannered yet jheri-curled moonwalking assassin who might be the most bizarre killer ever put to film. Leslie looks and acts exactly like Michael Jackson and every scene with him in it is filled with MJ throwbacks. The dynamic between these three characters brings an unexpected comedic element to the otherwise gritty narrative.
As the trio fights their way through the city’s criminal underbelly, they uncover shocking truths about the Syndicate’s operations, leading them straight to the top Silkwaan “Silk” Styles, the smooth-talking kingpin whose empire thrives on fear, fashion, and funk. The stakes get higher as Gamble not only fights to save Tanisha but also grapples with his own demons, questioning whether his need for revenge is greater than his desire to protect the woman he loves.
New Jack Fury is an action-comedy that is completely self-aware of its hokeyness and absurdity and honestly, that’s what makes this film entertaining and captivating. Visually the cinematography is pretty creative. A neon-soaked, over-the-top aesthetic of 1980s action films. It feels ripped straight from a vintage VHS tape. From one scene to the next, there is a kaleidoscope of colors from blazing pinks, electric blues, and deep purples — mirroring the excess of the decade. There’s also a keen creative choice in inserting commercial breaks during the segments of various scenes throughout this story. And resuming back to our story as the “movie of the week”. The structure of the commercial bumpers are almost akin to the 80s afterschool specials.
And as I mentioned before Lanfia Wal’s film is self-aware of its camp. From the low-quality production design, to the terrible wigs, even the mismatched audio dubbing. The amateur-style acting felt intentional too. Just like many films from the 80s where many actors looked as if they were reading off of cue cards or never acted a day in their life, it’s clear these performers were given similar direction to keep and maintain that 80s aesthetic…hopefully. It’s pretty clear New Jack Fury is a love letter to the 80s.
This intentionally over-the-top throwback embraces every trope and turns the dial up to eleven. As a fan 80s buddy-cop movies, crime thrillers, and pretty much anything involving mismatched partners being forced to work together against a common enemy, I appreciated what this story had to offer. Sure, the plot is predictable, the dialogue is cheesy, the wigs are awful and the special effects are corny but that’s precisely the charm of it all. I was pleasantly surprised by this one and hope more people get the opportunity to see it.
New Jack Fury made its premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival.
