Michael Jai White Movies
A black belt in seven karate styles who made his feature debut in The Toxic Avenger II and has appeared in numerous off-Broadway plays, Michael Jai White has a curiously eclectic career and is likely a recognized face to action movie aficionados.A Brooklyn, NY, native who was raised in the sometimes harsh limbo between the impoverished Bridgeport and well-to-do Westport, CT, Jai White grew from an introverted youth to a man comfortable in multiple surroundings. Eventually gaining a reputation as a fearsomely tough street fighter by the age of 14, the strikingly mature-appearing youngster earned his keep by offering karate lessons at the YMCA before graduating high school with honors and setting his sights on college. Bouncing from school to school unsure of what direction to take in life, Jai White took a few acting classes but eventually ended up as a junior high school teacher specializing in emotionally disturbed children. Soon auditioning for roles in Manhattan with the blessing of his students, Jai White would rise through the ranks and eventually land roles in such features as Universal Soldier (1992) and Full Contact (1993). After appearing as Mike Tyson in the 1995 television movie Tyson, the tough actor was cast in the role of a double-crossed assassin who seeks vengeance from the fiery depths of Hell in the eagerly anticipated film adaptation of the cult comic book Spawn. Later appearing in such features as Breakfast of Champions (1999) and Exit Wounds (2001), Jai White gained solid footing as a reliable supporting action figure. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2009
- R
The city streets explode into violence when "The Man" kills Black Dynamite's (Michael Jai White) brother in this seamless recreation of the blaxploitation classics of the 1970s. He was the best agent that the CIA ever had, but these days Black Dynamite only answers to one boss -- himself. When "The Man" ices Black Dynamite's brother, starts pumping heroin into the local orphanage, and floods the ghetto with a secret weapon disguised as common malt liquor, the car chases, gunfights, and shirtless brawls that follow prove wild enough to make even Dolemite green with envy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Jai White, Kym E. Whitley, (more)
Director Ben Ramsey and writer Michael Andrews team for this martial arts action thriller concerning a mysterious drifter (Michael Jai White) who becomes ensnared in the seedy world of underground street fighting. In the back alleys of Los Angeles, life is cheap and to go against the grain is to take on the most powerful criminal organization on the West Coast. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Jai White
Christopher Nolan steps back into the director's chair for this sequel to Batman Begins, which finds the titular superhero coming face to face with his greatest nemesis -- the dreaded Joker. Christian Bale returns to the role of Batman, Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins), and Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger dons the ghoulishly gleeful Joker makeup previously worn by Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero. Just as it begins to appear as if Batman, Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) are making headway in their tireless battle against the criminal element, a maniacal, wisecracking fiend plunges the streets of Gotham City into complete chaos. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, (more)
- 2007
- PG13
- Add Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? to QueueAdd Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? to top of Queue
A couple (Tyler Perry and Janet Jackson) that goes on a therapeutic annual winter vacation designed to help couples work through their marital problems in a group setting finds the usual routine thrown into chaos when one of the wives arrives with a sexy young temptress in tow. Now, as the Colorado snow falls gently outside of their window, one couple will experience a bout with infidelity that will cause the entire group to question the validity of their own respective marriages. Diary of a Mad Black Woman mastermind Tyler Perry writes, produces, directs, and stars in this comedy drama that explores the complexities of modern marriage. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, (more)
Inspired by real life events and filmed in one extended, uninterrupted take, the feature debut from Greek-born filmmaker Spiros Statholulopoulos tells the tense tale of a Columbian farmer, wife, and mother who falls victim to a bizarre act of terrorism. When kidnappers demand that Elvira pay a ransom of $7000 and she fails to raise the money in time, the woman is turned into a human time bomb and forced to endure an excruciating waiting game from which there appears to be no escape. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Merida Urquia, Daniel Paez, (more)
Spawn star Michael Jai White takes over the role originated by Pulp Fiction heavyweight Ving Rhames in this sequel to the 2002 boxing drama that finds protagonist George Chambers forced to fight for his life in the brutal world of Russian prison boxing. Imprisoned in Russia and forced to rely on his street-fighting skills as a means of surviving, Chambers soon discovers that in the unforgiving Russian penitentiary it's one's willingness to break the rules - not play by them - that could mean the difference between life and death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Jai White
- 2005
This episode elaborates upon the secret government conspiracy against the Justice League, introduced in such third-season episodes as "Fearful Symmetry" and "Ultimatum." As Batman tries to halt the conspiracy that has been fomented by the sinister Amanda Waller, Superman heads into the bowels of a volcano for a titanic battle from which he may not emerge alive. It seems that Superman's opponent is the diabolical Doomsday -- who was supposed to have been permanently killed off several episodes ago. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- CCH Pounder, Michael Jai White, (more)
Hong Kong action star Michelle Yeoh serves as both producer and leading lady for this bit of slam-bang adventure. By day, Lulu Wong (Yeoh) is a mild-mannered environmental activist, but when the going gets tough, she transforms herself into Silver Hawk, a battle-ready heroine who finds herself chasing after Alexander Wolfe (Luke Goss), a suave British rogue agent. Wolfe has abducted a brilliant Chinese scientist (Chen Daming) who has invented a new artificial intelligence technology that could have dramatic worldwide impact; Silver Hawk sets out to find Wolfe and his captive before he forces him to reveal his secrets, but matters become more complicated when the daughter of a powerful industrial tycoon also goes missing. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michelle Yeoh, Luke Goss, (more)
Perhaps the most highly anticipated film of 2003, Kill Bill Vol. 1 marked the return of renowned filmmaker Quentin Tarantino after a six-year hiatus. Re-teaming the director with Uma Thurman for the first time since 1994's Pulp Fiction, the film was originally the first half of what was to be a three-hour-plus movie before being split into two films. Thurman stars as The Bride, one-fifth of a team of assassins called DiVAS. When The Bride opts to leave the outfit for a life of marital bliss, it doesn't sit well with her boss, Bill (David Carradine), so he has her former cohorts, played by Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, and Michael Madsen, show up at the nuptials, leaving behind a blood bath. Miraculously, The Bride survives a bullet to the head and, four years later, she sets out for revenge against her four assassins and their employer. The story is concluded in Kill Bill Vol. 2, released six months later. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, (more)
- 2003
In the first episode of a two-part story, the members of the Justice League are confronted by their evil doppelgangers from another dimension. In their world, the "Justice Lords" rule with a curious and sinister version of law and order, in which the innocent suffer while the guilty flourish. When the Justice Lords arrive on earth, they are confused by values that they cannnot understand -- but which they are compelled to destroy. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clancy Brown, Dana Delany, (more)
A woman's infidelity leads her into a web of larceny and danger in this noir-flavored independent thriller. Mia DuBois (Monica Calhoun) is a psychologist who until recently worked with the police department, counseling the survivors of victims of violent crime. While Mia has entered into a successful private practice, she's persuaded by her former colleagues to take on new client, Tammy (Chrystale Wilson), who is still dealing with the recent murder of her husband. As Mia helps Tammy with her problems, Mia finds herself thinking about her own marriage to Victor (Kristoff St. John), which has hardly been happy lately. As Mia begins wondering if she has other options, she visits a mysterious nightclub, Pandora's Box, where she meets the sexy and mysterious Hampton (Michael Jai White). Mia soon begins having an affair with Hampton, unaware that Hampton is actually working with Victor and Tammy; Mia is soon to inherit $20 million, and Victor is determined to get his hands on the money. Hampton soon shifts his alliances to stay with Mia, but Victor and Tammy are not giving up their shares of the fortune quite so easily. Pandora's Box also features former teen heartthrob Joey Lawrence in a supporting role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monica Calhoun, Michael Jai White, (more)
Returning to his action feature terrain after a short hiatus, Steven Seagal plays Orin Boyd, a maverick Detroit detective with an unconventional way of taking down foes. After a failed intervention in a terrorist kidnapping case that humiliates his superiors, Boyd -- who is hailed as a top-drawer investigator but frowned upon for his tactics -- is forced to do time in a tough downtown precinct. After discovering the covert drug operation performed by several corrupt cops at his new assignment, he decides to break the rules yet again. While the cops are planning a massive heroin deal with big-time gangster Latrell Walker (DMX), Boyd finds that Latrell is not who he once was, and Boyd persuades him to assist in bringing an end to the amoral police influence that helped ruin him. Exit Wounds is the second film from cinematographer-turned-director Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die) and also features Tom Arnold, Isaiah Washington, and Jill Hennessy. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Seagal, DMX, (more)
- 2000
This series is a gritty hard-driving look at an insane asylum. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Burke, Joelle Carter, (more)
This made-for-TV movie focuses on the grassroots efforts of a Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to combat the entrenched racism of the segregated South. The film focuses on Owen Walker (Vicellus Reon Shannon), a youth who longs to address the injustices of his hometown in rural Mississippi. His father Will (Danny Glover) forswore his own previous attempts to organize local blacks. Owen resents his father, until he too realizes the true cost of protesting. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Glover, Vicellous Shannon, (more)
- 1999
- PG13
This made-for-television docudrama that aired on March 28, 1999 on NBC, relates the story of an actual event that occurred during World War II, but is centered around the lives of fictional characters. On July 17, 1944 at a U.S. naval base near San Francisco, a ship exploded causing the deaths of 323 men and injuring another 390. Just over 200 of the dead and another 200 of the injured were African-American Navy personnel. The story begins with the events that led up to the tragedy, with the second half of the film describing the actions of the men who refused to report back to work the next day after the explosion. Initially, 250 of the men refused to return, fearing another catastrophe. When base officers threatened to charge them with mutiny, 200 returned to work. The 50 who refused to return were given dishonorable discharges, in addition to 15 years of hard labor from the mutiny convictions. Eventually, the sentences were reduced to 4 years, but no official governmental acknowledgment of wrongdoing has ever been made. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Jai White, David Ramsey, (more)
Two self-styled criminal masterminds find themselves in a turf battle neither much cares about in this underworld story that balances comedy against drama. Alec Baldwin plays Mackin, a career thief who picks his jobs shrewdly and carefully, and prefers to spend his downtime with his collection of rare jazz LP's and looking after his dog. Pointy (Michael Jai White) is a young upstart gangster trying to develop a taste for refinement and the good life. When Pointy sets up Mackin, Mackin is forced to retaliate, and before long both men and their associates are in the middle of a war neither is especially interested in winning, which begins to escalate in comic fashion. The skirmish eventually attracts the attention of a female cop (Rebecca De Mornay) who's become interested in Mackin's method of operation. Thick As Thieves received its world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Baldwin, Andre Braugher, (more)
Jean-Claude Van Damme returns as cybernetic warrior Luc Deveraux in this sequel to the 1992 action hit. After barely surviving his experiences as a part-human/part-robot Universal Soldier, Luc has opted to stay out of the front lines and work with a military project to refine and perfect the system. However, something goes wrong (as they so often do in films like this), and S.E.T.H. (Michael Jai White), the android supercomputer leading the new breed of soldiers, suddenly develops a murderous mind of his own. Soon S.E.T.H. is leading his fellow war machines on a rampage, and Luc is the only one who can stop them. The supporting cast includes Heidi Schanz and wrestling star Bill Goldberg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Jai White, (more)
Matthew Settle stars in this made-for-TV movie as an Irish immigrant who in 1870 leaves behind a career as a boxer -- and a reputation as a ne'er-do-well -- in New York City to become the marshal of a town on the Kansas frontier. Shaughnessy stars Matthew Settle, Linda Kozlowski, and Michael Jai White; the movie was the pilot for a short-lived TV series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Settle, Linda Kozlowski, (more)
After the success of shock-jock Howard Stern's Private Parts, shock-TV host Jerry Springer made his own foray into celluloid. Fictionalizing only the name of his television show (what is normally called the The Jerry Springer Show, is now called "The Jerry Show"), Springer plays himself as a man who fronts a chair-throwing, dog-and-pony trash TV strip which gets high ratings in the backwoods, armpit communities of America. The story revolves around two sets of guests coming to Los Angeles to be on the show. First, the Zorzak family has slutty 19-year-old Angel (Jaime Pressly), sleeping with her stepdad (Michael Dudikoff). When her mom (Molly Hagan) finds out, she seeks revenge by sleeping with Angel's fiancé, Willie (Ashley Holbrook). The second group consists of Starletta (Wendy Raquel Robinson), who caught her man, Demond (Michael Jai White), sleeping with her best friend, Vonda (Tangie Ambrose). This makes all of them perfect for stardom on The Jerry Show. As all these guests arrive for their big day on national television, more chaos ensues with Springer getting propositioned by Angel and her mother. Even crew members show their stripes by getting involved in the sexual escapades with the guests. The whole scenario is finally brought to a knockdown, gender-bending finale live on national television -- right where it belongs. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Springer, Jaime Pressly, (more)
One of the most popular independent comic books of its decade was transformed into this dark, bloody adventure intended to launch a profitable superhero franchise. Michael Jai White stars as Al Simmons, a corrupt assassin betrayed and murdered by his evil government supervisor, Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen). Sent to Hell, Simmons is offered a chance to return to the earthly plane if he will become a "Hellspawn" ("Spawn" for short), one of many super-powered creatures assigned to encourage living souls along the path to damnation. Simmons hastily agrees to this deal and becomes a twisted, scarred version of his former self, living in a dingy alleyway, with no hope of regaining his life, as several years have passed and his wife Wanda (Theresa Randle) has married his best friend, Terry Fitzgerald (D.B. Sweeney). Despite the best efforts of his mentor, a demonic clown (John Leguizamo), Spawn performs mostly heroic acts, though he is not above seeking revenge on Wynn. Despite the film's middling box office take, plans for a sequel were announced. The same summer that Spawn was released, the comic was also the basis of a well-received cable TV series. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Leguizamo, Michael Jai White, (more)
Betrayal and revenge are the key ingredients of this violent, streetwise crime drama. Roy Egan (Harvey Keitel) was once a highly successful thief but has gotten out of the business and now leads a quiet life in the Midwest. He's lured out of retirement by his brother, Lee (Timothy Hutton); Lee figures that he's come to the end of his rope as a small-time thief and wants to pull one last job that will earn him a healthy score. Lee and Roy devise a plan to knock over a jewelry store in Palm Springs and bring along two helpers, even-tempered family man Jorge (Wade Dominguez) and hot-headed driver Skip (Stephen Dorff). The heist goes like clockwork, but afterward Skip turns on his partners and kills Lee and Jorge. Roy is able to escape and swears to avenge his brother's death with the help of Jorge's wife Rachel (Famke Janssen). City of Industry was the debut feature for writer/producer Ken Solarz. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Stephen Dorff, (more)
A variety of crooks, losers, and working stiffs living in the shadow of Hollywood find their various personal crises overlapping in this intricately woven melodrama. Lee Woods (James Spader) is a cold-blooded hit man and Dosmo Pizzo (Danny Aiello) a soft-at-heart gangster; they've been sent to murder Roy Foxx (Peter Horton), the former husband of also-ran Olympic skier Becky Foxx (Teri Hatcher). Lee's girlfriend Helga (Charlize Theron) is unhappy about his habit of killing people, and she attracts the attention of Alvin (Jeff Daniels) and Wes (Eric Stoltz), two cops who've been put on vice detail but don't have the heart to bust the prostitute they've been trailing. Alvin dreams of becoming a homicide detective, so when he discovers that he might be on the trail of a murder, it's like Santa Claus showed up in mid-July to hand him a present. Dosmo manages to escape the crime scene, only to foil a murder attempt by Lee, forcing him to hide out in the home of Hopper, a pretentious English art dealer (Greg Cruttwell), whom Dosmo holds hostage along with Hopper's long-suffering assistant, Susan (Glenne Headly). In the midst of all this, a down-on-his-luck television director (Paul Mazursky) contemplates suicide (the main stumbling block is finding someone to take care of his dog) while also being pestered by an actor with equally bad luck (Austin Pendleton) and meeting a compassionate nurse (Marsha Mason) on a visit to a cemetery. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Aiello, Greg Cruttwell, (more)
- 1996
Devoted parents search for their daughter in this strange, fact-based made-for-television movie. Set in the 1850s, Louis Gossett Jr. stars as James Mink, a wealthy Canadian businessman who is married to a white woman (Kate Nelligan). When their daughter is duped into marrying a slave trader, the Minks set out for the American South to track down their missing daughter and bring her back home. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1995
An extremely nervous Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) prepares for his marriage to Sylvia Costas (Sharon Lawrence). Andy's best man, Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits), becomes increasingly aware that Diane Russell's (Kim Delaney) drinking is wreaking havoc on her job performance. Bobby and his fellow officers also try to clear up the racially charged crisis involving the brother (Michael Jai White) of Lt. Fancy (James McDaniel). Lesniak (Justine Miceli) finally agrees to date Martinez (Nicholas Turturro). And on the day of the wedding, several surprise guests show up. This was the final episode of NYPD Blue's second season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
