Shaft is like the black man's James Bond. He is smooth, and cool. Samuel L. Jackson embodies that smooth and coolness with a street twist. He is the best thing about the movie. One surprise addition was Regina Hall as Shaft's ex. This is the first time I have seen her in a non-Scary Movie role, and she was great and had great chemistry with SLJ. The weakness would be the focus on Jessie T Usher as the younger Shaft, since though his acting was decent, you want more of Samuel L Jackson. The acting talents of SLJ and Regina Hall is what carries the movie. Actually, if they got rid of Jessie T Usher's character, the story would have been more interesting. This is because the plot is weak and generic. It is like a buddy cop flick between father and son, old school and millenial, veteran vs rookie. These dynamics could have been better exploited but it only ends up as a comical verbal exchange between Sam Jackson's Shaft with the younger Shaft. In the end, Samuel L Jackson, and Regina Hall are probably the best things about a movie, and if they did a rom com version of this film without the action, it would still work. But despite flaws, it is worth a watch if you have free time.