59
Metascore
6 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83The A.V. ClubAlex McLevyThe A.V. ClubAlex McLevyFrom its inception, The Mack had more on its mind than delivering a blaxploitation film, a label director Michael Campus always resisted. He shouldn’t have. His film is one of the finest examples of the genre, a smartly executed and deeply ambitious story of crime, corruption, and prostitution, shot on location in Oakland, California.
- 80Village VoiceVillage VoiceIt is almost perfect as escapist entertainment -- as a carefully schematized synthesis of fantasies for black audiences. [03 May 1973, p.81]
- 75The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe Mack certainly wasn't the first film to invite audiences to identify with a gleefully transgressive antihero, but its combustible take on sex, class, capitalism, and race made it an important touchstone not only for black film, but also for hip-hop culture.
- 70The Observer (UK)The Observer (UK)Incoherent, idiotic and exhilarating. [28 Apr 1996, p.16]
- 60TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThe Mack is lacking in narrative drive and logic, but offers an entertainingly exploitative portrait of a self-made gangster.
- 30The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyEven as action melodrama of a Shaft sort, the film is inept, so confused that occasionally it seems surreal.