***1/2
It’s not enough that Ralph Bakshi’s mixed-media animation captures hip nostalgia with an intense swirl of authenticity, or that his social commentary pushes the envelope in every conceivable direction. But in the case of Street Fight, Bakshi hits on all cylinders, casting Philip Michael Thomas and Barry White as upstart gangsters from the “cracker-barrel” circuit trying to hustle up big league Harlem utilizing every “down home” trick in the book.
Scatman Crothers narrates as ultra-black heroes the Rabbit and the Bear expertly put a debilitating move on the Italian Mafia, a revolutionary take-over. The blacks versus whites dynamic goes full tilt as cartoon blood sheds on both sides from a machine gun rattle of racist crossfire. Fortunately, Rabbit and Bear’s friend the Fox lends his cunning hand in the fight against the Godfather and his squadron of transvestite sons. Intricate schemes and smokescreens abound as underworlds clash in the most psychedelic of manners.
The vhs box for Street Fight, which was originally titled upon theatrical release as Coonskin, comes with the warning: “this film offends everybody!” The jive talk alone is side-splitting, let alone the pornographic embellishments, the outlandish revenge fantasy, and the over-the-top parodies of classic fools. This isn’t a movie for the faint of heart and Bakshi, who also produced the equally risqué Fritz the Cat and Hey, Good Lookin’, wouldn’t have it any other way.
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