Very well executed

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Dolemite is one of my all time favorites and was one of the first blaxsploitation movies that I have seen. While the movie is super low budget and has a ton of flaws, Dolemite is one of the coolest films out there and I always have a great time watching this classic. Yes, the production value is terrible and the acting is really bad and Rudy Ray Moore could not fight his way out of a bathroom. But, Rudy has a unique persona and presence that demands attention and respect. Our hero and main man Dolemite was set up by a rival and imprisoned. He gets out of prison and with his stable of karate chopping call girls, he is on his path to revenge and street justice. Hustler, pimp, club owner and all around bad ass, Dolemite kicks ass and scores with the ladies. Lots of great lines from The Godfather Of Rap and the film went on to inspire generations of fans, film makers and musicians to come. Rudy Ray Moore was one of the coolest cats to ever live and Dolemite is one of his finest work. After watching Dolemite, I rented all the blaxsploitation movies that I could get my hands on, some of them were also great, others, not so great. But, Dolemite holds up and is essential viewing for the genre and one of the coolest movies ever made.

Dolemite (1975) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore) is a hard-hitting pimp who is serving twenty-years in prison after being framed by some dirty cops. The warden tells him that evidence shows he might have been set-up so he allows Dolemite out of prison if he agrees to help track down someone passing guns and drugs in the streets. Soon Dolemite is going up against gangster Willie Green (D'Urville Martin).DOLEMITE was a late entry in the blaxploitation boom of the 1970s when people like Richard Roundtree and Pam Grier became stars. Rudy Ray Moore made his debut in this film and he would make a handful of other films but there's no question that he'll always be remembered for this role. For the most part this is a mildly entertaining film, although I doubt you'll find anyone that will try to say that this is some sort of classic or even a good picture.What makes this film work is the performance from the lead star. Yes, it's not Oscar-worthy material but it wasn't meant to be. The point of a film like this is to have fun and I must say that I thought Rudy Ray Moore was a lot of fun and especially early on when he's screaming out countless one-liners and many of them are quite funny. He's certainly very believable in the role of this pimp and he keeps the film moving at a nice pace.For the most part the film is entertaining but there's no question that the first half is much better than the second. For some reason the movie just runs out of gas around the fifty-minute mark and it never picks up. There are some really long and boring stretches including some bits inside Dolemite's club. These scenes towards the end of the movie just drag on and go nowhere so they could have easily been cut.DOLEMITE isn't a classic blaxploitation movie but if you're a fan of the genre then the star makes this worth watching.

The various Law & Order and CSI franchises had better be glad Dolomite doesn't pass through. The lady cops,ADAs,and coroners would all be enthralled and the males be subject to such soul shivering,badge melting warp speed kicks ( Wouldn't you just love to see David Caruso's Horatio and that know it all on CSI get Dolomite's Hush Puppies pulled from their respective asses)Ice T might start crying and get back on the Playa Trail.Low low budget,bad but enthusiastic acting,and a vision at what gutbucket nightclubs offered to its patrons;funk bands soul singers,the last vestiges of old style Chitlin Circuit entertainers( that weirdling dance troupe)James Brown,Wilson Pickett,Otis Redding,and a host of others came from those clubs to glory, while their peers labored on in local or regional stardom. Rudy Ray Moore came from that background and the character of Dolomite is a mix of the bold Black badasses who strutted through. He shouldn't have went to the joint, the swine didn't have a warrant, how his middle aged ,blubbery self maintained a loyal stable of kung fu wenches is a mystery only a student of cults can explain, but all that is beside the point. It's a glorious home movie of a legendary performer that compared to the mirrors of actors ranging from Established Hollywood to indie film snorefests,hits its mark. A fun dumb movie!

A blaxploitation classic, this movie was terribly influential in rap music for the "toasts" that Rudy Ray Moore performs. Toasts are long rhyming stories that are funny and deliver a point, and you can see how they would naturally evolve into rap. For more on toasts, Rudy Ray Moore, and why this movie is important, go to Dolemite.com.Which leaves us just to talk about the movie itself. This movie packs in a great deal of "laugh-at-the-funny-outfits-and-hairstyles" bang for the buck, as nearly every shot has some sort of outrageous element or dialogue. It starts as Dolemite is being released from prison in order to find out who framed him and bring him to justice. I was unaware that prisons release people so they can prove their own innocence, but that's me, I'm a neophyte in the prison scene. He is helped in this by Queen Bee, who is Dolemite's lead prostitute and has been running his brothel while he's been gone. She has also put all of his prostitutes through karate school, so now he has an army of female karate fighters.I watched this movie in two parts, which is usually a mistake, but in this case it provided an interesting contrast. The first part I watched on my lunch break while exercising, and wasn't enjoying it much at all. It struck me as particularly poorly made blaxploitation, with a ludicrous story, shoddy craftsmanship—well, I guess that makes it sound like it had SOME craftsmanship—and tons of outrageous locales, outfits and dialogue. But I wasn't enjoying that—in fact, it kind of made me feel dirty. Let's face it, a white guy watching something like this to laugh at the outfits and the things the characters say is essentially getting an enjoyment out of it that is racist: how ridiculously those black people dress, what silly things they say. I wasn't really enjoying it, wasn't laughing, and wasn't looking forward to watching the rest.Later that night, when I was in a "much more relaxed state," I watched the rest—and legitimately loved it. Like Disco Godfather, which I had watched a few days previously, this has a warmth and sweetness at its core that makes it likable even when it's silly or violent. The character of Dolemite has an element of self-parody about him that makes the whole thing fun, and the appearance of several actors who were also in Disco Godfather implies that we're watching the group effort of a bunch of friends who just want to make something fun together. Even the poor dubbing, karate fights, and everything else just makes it that much more charming.What I find interesting about the Dolemite films is that they have some moral ambiguity I don't see in other blaxploitation films, and certainly in very few mainstream films. In this one, there is an African-American woman who gives a speech about the (white) Mayor, saying "he has done more for the black community than anyone." We later find out that the Mayor is, surprise, corrupt, but I like that the movie would present this woman as essentially misguided and not try to "redeem" her in some other way. There's also the figure of the Hamburger Pimp, who is presented as a useless junkie, and no one makes an effort to find some redeeming, socially positive angle to what he is, he just is. In Disco Godfather the religious character Lady Reed plays is presented as just nuts for wanting to pray for her child, hopelessly lost to angel dust. I like that the films would present such harshly critical portrayals of people in their own community without sugar-coating or trying to redeem them to make them more palatable.There are a lot of hootworthy elements, such as when Dolemite says "Move over and let me pass, or I'm gonna be pulling these Hush Puppies out your muthatf** a**." There is Queen Bee reaching over and answering the phone: "Dolemite's Total Experience." And you will not be able to miss (though you may wish to cover your eyes) the extended nude scene by the REPULSIVE Mayor. I am all for mustachioed pervy older men, but even I have limits—-and my limits are usually a few miles past most people's, so be warned. The DVD I had is clearly edited, which is noticeable in certain of the dialogue scenes, and at the end, when Dolemite's killing of a major character with his bare hands obviously excludes the main event.If you do get the DVD, however, be sure to watch all three trailers for the Dolemite films, as they are a hoot. I wasn't going to watch The Human Tornado, but after seeing that trailer, you'd better BELIEVE that I am. Also, there is a scene in the Dolemite trailer that I don't remember from the movie when Dolemite swings at a Mexican-looking thug, obviously misses, and the guy flips himself into a nearby car trunk.After watching the first half, I was going to say to skip this and watch Disco Godfather, as the film-making and story has marginally improved, but after really enjoying the second half, I would advise watching this one over Disco Godfather, as this one is even more exuberantly fun, outrageous, and good-natured—and has those toasts which, even if one doesn't understand the roots and nuances of the form, are still something to see.--- Check out other reviews on my website of bad and cheesy movies, Cinema de Merde, cinemademerde.com