Said be one of the seminal blaxploitation movies ever made I must say I will probably never become a fan of the genre. Goldie (Max Julien) has just left prison after serving 5 years in state penitentiary. On his return his is offered the opportunity to become a pimp. With hope to better his existence he agrees and quickly becomes one of the best in the business with 10 girls to his name. He improves not only his life but also that of his mother. All this success garners unwanted interest of the local drug distributors, rival pimps and corrupt cops wanting some greasing. On the other side of this is Goldie's older brother Olinga (Roger E. Mosley), who is a black activist trying to clean up the streets from drugs, prostitutes and crime.
The influence this movie had on hip hop and pimpdom is quite obvious. The costumes and the moves of artists such as Snoop Dogg are all The Mack. But in hindsight was this movie really deserving all its praise? Yes, it has some very interesting quirky scenes (especially those involving cops) and all in all remains a fun, if outdated watch. But watching it now I don't seem to be able to find the magic behind the movie. The storytelling is very disjointed and jumpy with a whole lot of sequences happening chaotically and with no purpose. The dramatic flow of the movie is severely lacking and as such I never felt pulled into the story, which left me watching it not too intently by the second hour.
Acting is definitely a big plus of the movie and everyone from the cast does a standout job. Some of the scenes are definitely worth note, but the movie as a whole stumbles and crawls all too often to really make you want to rewatch the flick.