The gangster who wants to fly straight is a story we’re all familiar with and have seen time and again. In Superfly, Priest (Trevor Jackson), a young drug dealer from Atlanta desperate to get out of the drug game, is the latest protagonist to try his hand at straightening up and flying right. He comes up with one final scheme to achieve his goal.
The sleek and stylish production design of Superfly immediately catches the eye starting with the very first scene. We’re treated to Priest confronting Litty (Allen Maldonado) in a club beautifully illuminated with red lighting amidst flashy foreign cars. The locations chosen for the film, the elaborate mansions and raucous strip clubs, are indicative of the film’s director Director X and his music video background. As the modern telling of a high-end, young black drug dealer, Director X’s experience in creating the visual appearance of opulence and what it’s like to ball out of control helps greatly in setting the scene for the world and lifestyle of Superfly.
As fittingly over-the-top Director X’s production design and shooting for the locales of Superfly are, there are some points where it feels out of place. Take for instance when we first meet Priest’s eventual drug connect Adalberto Gonzalez (Esai Morales). When we meet the Mexican cartel head, he is being driven around in a Maybach, the now discontinued ultra-expensive luxury vehicle manufactured by Mercedes Benz that was the car of choice for rappers in the late 2000s. The choice of the Maybach as his car is meant to convey wealth and power in terms familiar to the world of Superfly, but that aesthetic and lifestyle isn’t applicable to the world of Mexican drug dealers, many of whom often come from poor, rural backgrounds. While I was aware what was trying to be communicated, the lack of realism turned out to be a distraction. The film’s cinematography outside of its club scenes leaves much to be desired however. The shot choices and angles are bland and uninspiring, feeling more fit for television than the big screen.
Superfly primarily serves as a vehicle for Trevor Jackson and he does a serviceable job as it’s lead. Jackson never takes you out of the film with his performance and does the heavy lifting that the role requires. Jason Mitchell also does an adequate job as his best friend and partner Eddie, but the lack of dynamism in his performance that we’ve become accustomed to from him is a sign of the film’s wider inadequacies, as is the general bad acting outside of these two performances.
Superfly is a generic tale of a gangster itching to escape a life of crime and paranoia that offers little in its plot that we haven’t seen done better previously and nothing new to separate it within the genre. It’s lead actor Trevor Jackson and main supporting actor Jason Mitchell do their best with the material they are given but don’t offer performances that elevate anything or anyone around them. Director X does provide the film with some great visual flair and aesthetics with the production design but the cinematography itself is bland and lifeless with no cinematic quality whatsoever. During an early action scene, Priest actually dodges a bullet fired at him at point blank range by quickly leaning to the side. Such content is fine for a night in at home, put not in a theater. Try as it might, Superfly is better suited for such a viewing experience.
Image: Sony Pictures Releasing
