Shaun Watson reviews�

Movie poster from the Internet Movie Database Undercover Brother Directed by Malcolm Lee Starring: Eddie Griffith as Undercover Brother Aunjanue Ellis as Sistah Girl Chi McBride as The Chief Dave Chapelle as Conspiracy Brother Neil Patrick Harris as Lance Chris Kattan as Mr. Feather Gary Anthony Williams as Smart Brother Denise Richards as White She-Devil Billy Dee Williams as Col. Boutwell Jack Noseworthy as Mr. Elias and James Brown as Himself with cameos by Martial Arts Master Jim Kelly Robert Townsend BernNadette Stanis

Over the years of watching many bad movies in my favorite genres--action, adventure, fantasy and science fiction--I have yet to see a movie with an admirable and accessible Black lead character. Sure, there are plenty of Black leads in Hollywood today, but what roles do they play? Halle Berry's Storm in the X-Men franchise is pretty cool, but the "Weather Witch" always plays second fiddle to anger management candidate Wolverine. Wesley Snipes' Blade is a vampire that walks in the daylight; what the fuck. Marlon Wayans played the cowardly thief Snails in the Dungeons and Dragons movie and "stayed true to form"(read: died first). And don't get me started on the social ramifications of Todd McFarlane's Spawn movie. If Michael Jai White is reading let me say this: at first I didn't have a problem with your playing Spawn because I knew you liked comics. Now I have a problem with the whole character of Spawn and I now wish you hadn't played that role. The same could be said of Mr. Snipes, Mr. Wayans and particularly Ms. Berry.
The characters previously mentioned are to be used as a contrast to the characters of the Malcolm Lee film Undercover Brother. Get ready.

Undercover Brother started as an animated series on Urban Entertainment.com, home of the short film "The Corporate Negro." I didn't see it's original run; I saw only some of the Flash animations in the Undercover Brother(let's call him "UB") DVD's Special Features section. Someone thought this series would make a great movie someday, provided it was done right. They translated almost everything from the animation to the live-action arena as faithfully as possible. For that alone, I thank them. Jeeves, roll the film so that I may review it, please�thank you.

The film opens on the events and figures of the Civil Rights Movement. We got out of the backroom and were allowed to be ourselves, no matter how good or bad we were. As the years rolled on, the edge of what was Black and what was not began to blur in the throes of forced integration and Blaxploitation films available to the masses, unknowingly changing the concept of Black from a physical being(racial standard) to a state of mind. Now Whites could stay White whilst being "Black", to the detriment of Black culture and the Black people. By the movie's reckoning, these problems could be attributed to one source--The Man.
What was once an imagined foe of ethnic minorities becomes manifest as the singular leader of a evil worldwide organization.The Man, per his legend, is bent on keeping the Black people down any way he can. To combat such actions against themselves, the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D was created by American individuals of distant African descent( it's really hard to NOT say "African-American" when referring to such persons). While they have their top agents out in the world with the best technology making sure that Back people get what they want--just like Whites--there is a rogue element doing the same as they are but in a dangerous vigilante fashion that could get them all busted. Both the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D and the Man want this person, for drastically different reasons. He is the Robin Hood of the 'hood�Undercover Brother!

• The Chief(Chi McBride, Boston Public[TV], Cradle 2 the Grave), an amalgam of all Black police chiefs from all the cop shows and movies put together. Yells a lot.
• Smart Brother(Gary Anthony Williams, Malcolm in the Middle[TV], Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), a chubby "OREO"--Black on the outside, White on the inside-- as implied by his nasal accent and proper-sounding speech. He's blessed with great intelligence and inventive knowhow; the Negro equivalent to James Bond's "Q" and another example that Black people must ridicule their best and brightest in order to feel better about themselves as a whole. The Man suceeded in this far too well.
• Conspiracy Brother(Dave Chapelle, Half-Baked, Chapelle's Show[TV] and Robin Hood: Men in Tights), an angry, paranoid marijuana smoker whose sole purpose in life is to do whatever he wants. Mostly there for comic relief. And what a relief it is.

In a unique twist to the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D's line up:

• Lance the intern(Neil Patrick Harris, Doogie Howser, M.D.[TV], Starship Troopers), a White dude getting a B.A. in African-American studies who got the gig in the most un-ironic way: "affirmative action." It goes both ways people.

Undercover Brother and Sistah Girl doin' it for the brothers in the belly of the beast! (Or not. Either way.) By the by, please take the time to visit GettoSake Entertainment.com if you want to see some guys give great treatment to Black superheroes. Many of their cartoons and characters are better than what's passing for good now. Also see the Black Superhero Museum, which has taken pains not only to document as many Black superheroes in mainstream and Indie comics as possible, it has also taken the time to collect online and newspaper articles about both the characters and their creators(Black or otherwise noted).

Now that we have our protagonists, our plot:
the Man wants to stop General Boutwell(Billy Dee Williams, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Mahogany, Batman and Secret Agent Double-0 Soul[�waitaminit]) from becoming president, so he alters his mind to make him sell fried chicken and watermelon to the Black masses. Inappropriate and strange behavior for someone who was just running for president a moment ago, so UB and Sistah Girl investigate. Little or no information is gathered, yet the Man knows UB and the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D are after him. Per the suggestion of his right hand men, Mr. Feather(Chris Kattan, Monkeybone and SNL alumni) and Mr. Elias(Jack Noseworthy, MTV's Dead at 21, Barb Wire), he releases his secret weapon to defeat Undercover Brother. While he's at it, the Man also has James Brown(as himself) kidnapped to harness his soul power.
The second mission to gather information requires UB to go undercover as corporate Negro Anton Jackson. He's almost home free with the necessary info when he runs smack into Penelope Snow, the prettiest White girl he's ever seen. Little does UB know she's the Man's secret weapon: White She-Devil(Denise Richards, Tammy & the T-Rex, Starship Troopers, Scary Movie 3). Purring and cooing, White She-Devil(I'm callin' her WSD from now on) works her magic to turn UB into a sellout. She largely succeeds, because she's got him listening to Michael Bolton and shopping at Banana Republic. Sistah Girl is there(undercover) to try and bring him back, yet it looks like she's lost him and lets him know her feelings in this exchange:

White She-Devil: Pardon me[looks at name tag]Tonya, but do you have any more half-zip pullovers?
Sistah Girl[to UB]: No, I'm sorry, I think we're all SOLD OUT.

That exchange gives UB food for thought as he and WSD spend time at her apartment. Sistah Girl is bent on rescuing UB and she breaks in to save him. A fight ensues, Sistah Girl coerces UB back to his old self and another fight ensues prior to their escape. They almost are recaptured by the Man's agents, but WSD turns the tide in their favor. Why? Once you go Black� With that, ALL THREE of them return to B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D HQ. Naturally there are problems with WSD being at HQ, but if Lance can be there, so can she. Through deductive reasoning, our heroes discover the Man is using Gen. Boutwell to push his mind control drug through the fried chicken! Because of WSD's intimate knowledge of the Man's island stronghold, they are prepared to storm its gates, rescue the Godfather of Soul and General Boutwell, stop the evil plot and defeat the Man.

I can't tell you how delighted I was when I saw this movie. Not only did this movie make me laugh, but it also featured a hero who was an individual against pressures to conform. That and he kicked ass. The movie also focused on a lot of problems that are popularized in American culture, particularly in Black culture. Many of these things aren't spontaneously generated; there HAD to be some influence from the director's brother Spike Lee and that of Robert Townsend, who played UB's father(avail. on the DVD). From CPT(colored peoples' time), to interracial relationships and the name of our antagonist the Man, it's all a part of Black American culture. Undercover Brother delivered those parts to us on a dashiki, garnished with an Afro pick and a splash of oil sheen.

• Sistah Girl. While still maintaining a fa�ade of toughness, she manages to come out looking as sweet as her reflection. Sexy, smart and kickin' it Oshun-style--that's the key.
• White She-Devil. The situations that this character is put in with UB are by far the funniest in the movie. Every time I think about when I saw this film in the theater, I remember all the feelings that I used to have for White women as a preference over Black women. It was fun to look back on that and see Sistah Girl's reactions to WSD's PROXIMITY to UB and his response. That reminded me of all the arguments I've had with Black sisters(both related and unrelated) about my LOOKING at a female of another race, God forbid date one. In the same instant, I also think about how many of those Black sisters have gone on to date men of other races. Many of them did, but not all of them stayed with that man. That outcome proved one thing: at least I didn't date someone outside of my own race before they did!(yep, we're getting petty here�) Oh yeah, and she's hot.
• Conspiracy Brother. There's a reason why Dave Chapelle has his own TV show. All the evidence to justify it is in the bulk of 2 movies: Half-Baked and this film. The man is a comic genius for all Black youth, yet he plays the slacker too well. I'm concerned as to how the role may be taken by the masses in years to come: role model or didactical buffoon?
• Colonel Boutwell. He's obviously a send-up of the wants of the Black community for Secretary of State Colin Powell to become president of the United States and the opinions of his role in the president's Cabinet, as directly related to the hypnotized Boutwell. In short, they're saying that Boutwell(Powell) is the Man's(President's) Uncle Tom or lapdog. I thought that role was delegated to British PM Tony Blair.
• Look for kick-ass cameos by the aforementioned Robert Townsend as UB's father, Master Jim Kelly as martial arts trainer to the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D and BernNadette Stanis (Thelma from Good Times) as UB's mother!
• There's enough musical cues and references to make you love this movie. Funk, soul, R&B, Seventies movie stingers and the occasional rehash of a classic make this movie one to own.
• Afro pick shuriken.
• Wow, the DVD is packed to the gills with bonus stuff. Get the DVD. Now!

PRICELESS QUOTES:
Mr. Feather is on one side of the door; UB wants inside. He resorts to a knock-knock joke:

UB: "Knock knock."
Feather: "Who's there?"
UB: "Kung."
Feather: "Kung who?"
[UB kicks down the door]
UB: "Kung fu!"

Conspiracy Brother reacts to seeing UB for the first time on video:

"Oh my God! It's Macy Gray with porkchop sideburns!"

Smart Brother briefs UB on his undercover mission to retrieve data:

"If you're going to fit in to white America, you're gonna have to learn to like MAYONNAISE!"

If I can't get a decent superhero in my movies, I'll have to settle for this. Yet I feel as though I haven't lost anything. Undercover Brother gets a rating of 10.

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