John Shaft Jr

John Shaft Jr is the nephew of John Shaft and the main protagonist of the 2000 sequel to Shaft of the same name.

He was played by Samuel L Jackson.

We first see John, in 1998, when Trey Howard is murdered at a bar somewhere just after Midtown Manhattan - we see the crime scene. At first the cops hassle John about his methods, to which John replies, "I'm only doing my job too." We then see Diane Palmeiri, a white witness point John to the main suspect, Walter Wade, of an English - possibly of Norman French extraction since he says "bro" later on - varistocratic family - he's Old Money. When John gets Walter, he tells him to get off the phone. When Walter refuses to comply, John threatens to grab him by his hair if he does it - fairly good example of police brutality. Walter confesses that he did hit Trey, but lies that Trey threatened him first. He also says he made a mean joke that Trey couldn't handle. Then, one of the witness, a blonde lady, says Walter did it, without witnessing it, saying the motive. He mentions that Walter belittled Trey for being black and his friends as well. Trey, angry, takes a cloth and makes a mock KKK costume on his head. Infuritated by this, apparently Walter went to hurt him, but we don't see what happened next, until Diane tells the story. John goes out to Walter and puts him in his place:

John: "Walter Wade, Jr. You big Walter Wade's son?"

Walter: "Yes, I am. Correct. The real estate developer?"

John: "Daddy's a big man, huh?"

Walter: "Big man. Big man."

John: "The waitress. She saw it, huh? So what you do, motherfucker, threaten her?"

Later on, Walter makes a snide remark, saying, "Homeboy's got rhythm." This infuriates John and John punches him in the face. Walter then cries police brutality, to which Tierney, the police detective gets infuriated and says he wants to fire John but apparently doesn't. We see the events of the next day. Because of John punching Walter, he got out on bail and went to Switzerland.

2 years later, John is shown trying to hunt down a Dominican gangster by the name of Peoples Hernandez. One of his hitman escapes, and leads John in a chase. When John finally catches him, he punches him. He then says, "April fools motherfucker," and to "think about this ass-whipping you're gonna get." John then goes to Peoples Hernandez and throws a ball at him. This enrages Hernandez and makes him come downstairs. A verbal confrontation follows with Peoples insulting John. He then takes him and his syndicate to the precient for questioning. A few days later, in court, Walter Wade comes back to New York. John and Walter meet face-to-face, and John arrests him and puts him in holding. Court day arrives and the judge allows Walter bail, which enrages John and all the black folks. This makes John quick the force, and do what his uncle did in the original movies - work as a private eye. "His ass is mine," utters John. When then see John meet Peoples, whom he met earlier in prison. They discuss going into business to kill Diane, the only witness. John then runs into a group of drug dealers to which John beats into leaving Tre - a kid - alone.