THEY CLONED TYRONE (2023)

THEY CLONED TYRONE (2023)

Tagline: Beware cheap imitations.

(Action, Comedy, Wait A Minute I Thought This Was About Tyrone?) [R]

Excuse me kind sir, but if you could point me to the elevator that leads down to the freaky laboratory, I’ll be out your atmosphere.

In this one, a pimp named Slick and a retiring hooker named Yo-Yo could have sworn they saw a drug dealer named Fontaine gunned down the night before after coming to get the money they owed him. Only Fontaine shows up the very next day saying he never came to pick up the money. The three join forces to hunt down the location of the car the assailants were driving. That leads to a beat-up house with a secret X-file, wrapped in a cover-up and deep-fried in a paranoid conspiracy. I don’t know what the heck is going on here, but what I can tell you is that…. THEY CLONED TYRONE. 

So back in 2009, we got a movie lead by Michael Jai White called BLACK DYNAMITE. That led to an animated series for BLACK DYNAMITE in 2011 which also involved Michael Jai White. If you start digging into that series, you are going to find some really wild and sometimes fantastic stuff as well as one episode in particular that may have inspired THEY CLONED TYRONE. Just saying I do the research. By the look of the film it seems like they could be going for a 70’s or 80’s aesthetic, but the film clearly takes place sometime after 2000. They reference Kevin Bacons' 2000 Hollow Man movie on a couple different occasions. 

There are just a ton of things that are gloriously fantastic about this movie, but a lot like the animated BLACK DYNAMITE, this script is super aggressive language and subject matter-wise, so don’t expect a full-blown comedy. That doesn’t mean we aren’t treated to lots of hilarity because we most definitely are. Regarding the camera work in one scene, they show the sequence upside down so you can kind of get a sense of the character’s bewilderment. While I know this can get annoying if overused, I kind of wish they had done this a few more times than they did because for this movie it worked really well. They also have kind of a side angle switched upright in a couple scenes which is a nice touch. 

This thing has an incredible soundtrack with a few exceptions and the score is solid. The production value is great and I am pretty sure the feel of the film is exactly what they were going for. It’s possible they did the big reveal of what was going on too early in the film, but the previews pretty much give it away anyway. The reason however would be a spoiler, so I am not going to tell you that.  

Fontaine’s character runs the gamut between being completely confident and fearless to desolate and discouraged. John Boyega’s (PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING) performance is spectacular filling the range of emotions in a really natural way. This is probably my favorite movie he’s ever been in. Jamie Fox is good as Slick, but his character doesn’t go through the range of emotions Fontaine does. My favorite character is YoYo played by Teyonah Parris (THE MARVELS). She is greatly influenced by Nancy Drew and kind of plays the character with the mindset of Angel Dynamite (SCOOBY-DOO! MYSTERY INCORPORATED). This is also a pretty decent outing for Kiefer Sutherland who plays Nixon. 

Written by Juel Taylor who wrote CREED II I think there are a lot of ways you can take this film as a commentary, but it does find a creative enjoyable way to bring to light several social issues while telling a great story and not feeling preachy. When you are looking for effective ways to get points across this is a gritty exploration that raises eyebrows. I can’t say too much else and not have this be a spoiler, but if I have said it once, I have said it a million times. Don’t trust the freakin government for anything. 

THEY CLONED TYRONE is a blast, but won’t be for everyone and it definitely has some adult elements. I have to give this thing a solid 6 out of 7. I enjoyed it quite a bit and loved the character development.

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