Put Your Weight On It with the Debut Trailer for ‘Dolemite is My Name’

The Blaxploitation movement was a many-tiered genre with some great films, some terrible films, and some films so terrible, they achieved their own brand of greatness. Among the best films in that third tier are Rudy Ray Moore's four starring vehicles as Dolemite*, a kung-fu fighting pimp cum comedian. Moore is now getting the biopic treatment, chronicling his rise to stardom, via the Netflix Original Film Dolemite is My Name.

Eddie Murphy stars as Rudy Ray Moore, in what might be his most perfectly cast role since Bowfinger. True, he doesn't really look like Moore, but he's one of the best mimics around and as this trailer shows, he is fully embodying the spirit of the Blaxploitation legend. The film also features a damn good supporting cast including Keegan Michael Key, Craig Robinson, Mike Epps, Luenell, Tituss Burgess, and Wesley Snipes as D'Urville Martin, the man who would direct Moore's feature debut.

If you've never seen a Rudy Ray Moore film, the time is now to get on the bandwagon. Hopefully this flick will ignite a renewed interest in his films, and hopefully Netflix is smart enough to put at least the first four on their streaming service to coincide with this film's release. Dolemite is My Name will premiere at next month's Toronto International Film Festival, before making its way to select theaters and Netflix this fall.

*Technically only Dolemite and The Human Tornado feature the character Dolemite, but Petey Wheatstraw and Disco Godfather might as well be Dolemite movies.