Follow TV Tropes

Following

Film / Undercover Brother

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/undercover_brother_8.jpg

Undercover Brother is a 2002 American satirical action comedy film, based on a Web Animation series of the same name. It spoofs the Blaxploitation genre as well as Spy Fiction, such as the James Bond series. It was directed by Malcolm D. Lee and stars Eddie Griffin, Chris Kattan, Denise Richards, Aunjanue Ellis, Dave Chappelle, Chi McBride, and Neil Patrick Harris.

We start with a black U.S. Army general named Warren Boutwell (Billy Dee Williams) who, in the beginning, looks like a good, respectable possibility for a black president. No scandals in his past at all.

But a white Chessmaster known only as "The Man" (Robert Trumbull) and his evil organization use a drug on the general to brainwash him. Right when he's supposed to be announcing his candidacy, he gives up his dream of politics to run a chain of fried chicken restaurants. It's evil fried chicken, too, but we don't learn that immediately.

The good secret organization, The BROTHERHOOD, needs to stop this before it goes any farther. But to do that, they must call the great Blaxploitation hero Undercover Brother (Griffin). Undercover Brother is stuck in The '70s, but he knows kung fu.

Undercover Brother is asked to infiltrate the evil Organization undercover. He is given a watch that sprays hot sauce to fight off the potential evil of mayonnaise on white bread. But, once on assignment, he meets an incredibly beautiful blonde (Richards) who appears to be trying to befriend him, and things go bad...

A sequel starring Michael Jai White, Undercover Brother 2 went Direct-to-DVD in 2019.


Tropes:

  • '70s Hair: Undercover Brother and Sistah Girl's afros and White She-Devil's long locks—though her hair is teased up so much it's more a hybrid of this and '80s Hair.
  • The Ace: Undercover Brother himself: Master of Disguise and expert at martial arts and infiltration.
  • Action Girl: Both Sistah Girl and White She Devil (after she reveals herself as The Mole) demonstrate exceptional martial arts combat skills, including beating up several trained male combatants.
  • Affectionate Parody: Of '70s Blaxploitation films and Spy Fiction.
  • Afro Asskicker: Undercover Brother
  • All According to Plan: An alarm goes off at Multinational Inc. and reveals that the BROTHERHOOD agent Undercover Brother has infiltrated the building. Instead of being dismayed, The Dragon Mr. Feather says "The Brotherhood is making their move. Just as I expected."
  • An Aesop: Undercover Brother's preaching about teamwork.
  • Alien Blood: When Lance performs a Mortal Kombat-esque kill on the last Mook by crushing his head with his bare hands, the man's head squeezes out a green goo.
  • Anonymous Ringer: Warren Boutwell, a former general and Secretary of Defense who was thought to be considering a Presidential run. AKA General Colin Powell.
  • Arson, Murder, and Lifesaving: Da Chief gives the title character a piece of his mind. Considering that almost every one of those dollars of damage was a) caused by Conspiracy Brother and b) done to The Man's property and plans, it's doubtful that the Chief was too upset and just wanted to invoke this trope.
    Chief: Didn't you cause about a bazillion dollars worth of damage? And I sure as hell ain't covering for you! I don't give a damn how sexy you look floating down in your little pants! And as for the rest of you... I just want to say how very proud I am of all of you. Undercover Brother, the world is safe once again thanks to you.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Smart Brother's interrogation of White She-Devil and Conspiracy Brother's listing of black people not given proper credit.
  • Artistic License – Gun Safety: After Undercover Brother grabs a shotgun away from Conspiracy Brother, he carelessly swings it around, pointing it at Sista Girl, Conspiracy Brother and the Chief. As an expert and experienced combatant he should have known better.
  • Ascended Fanboy: Undercover Brother must be a huge fan of Bruce Lee, such as his screaming Goomba Stomp.
  • As Himself: James Brown, actually Undercover Brother in disguise.
  • Aside Comment
    • While Undercover Brother is talking to Sista Girl in his apartment:
      Undercover Brother: Nothing relaxes a brother after a hard day of going undercover like a little piece of the cookie.
      Sistah Girl: My cookie would break you in half.
      Undercover Brother: Maybe, but that would be some long division. [looks at the camera] Long.
    • While Undercover Brother is at a golf course:
      Sistah Girl: This is strictly an observational mission. We are not authorized to take action.
      Undercover Brother: Well, observe this. [looks at the camera] Action is what Undercover Brother's all about.
    • After White She Devil's first Heel–Face Turn:
      White She Devil: Oh, Undercover Brother, you're too much man for me.
      Undercover Brother: Baby... [looks at the camera] sometimes I'm too much man for my own damn self.
  • Aside Glance:
    • While the title character is flying through the air toward some enemy Mooks, he briefly turns his head and looks at the camera.
    • In the end credits. After Undercover Brother takes his car through a car wash and several female attendants are flirting with him, he turns his head and broadly winks at the camera.
  • Ass Shove: Undercover Brother sticks his foot inside an opponent's ass, complete with X-ray camera shot.
  • Back-to-Back Badasses: Sistah Girl and White She-Devil late in the film.
  • Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: White She Devil shoots two enemy Mooks after the motorcycle chase.
  • Battle Trophy: Mr. Feather feels this way about Undercover Brother's medallion.
  • Becoming the Mask: Undercover Brother becomes his mild-mannered secret identity Anton Jackson through White She-Devil wooing him.
  • Berserk Button:
    Lance: "I. Am not. A SISSY!"
    • Don't mess with Undercover Brother's hair.
    Undercover Brother: You mess with the 'fro, you got to go.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Lance is a meek Nice Guy, but when called a sissy he tears one man's heart out with his bare hands. Followed by tearing a second man's head (and spinal column) off his body, and squeezing a third man's head so hard with his hands that it bursts.
  • Big Bad: Mr. Feather.
  • Big "NO!": A mook does this as Undercover Brother is about to stamp down on him. He lives, but his potato chips weren't as lucky.
  • Big Red Button: Conspiracy Brother foolishly pushes a large red button labeled "Atomic Core" and starts a Self-Destruct Mechanism that will destroy The Man's headquarters. This forces the Brotherhood's infiltration team to flee for their lives.
    "Let's see what this so called button does!"
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: Mr. Feather during the final battle with Undercover Brother.
  • Bland-Name Product: GFC/General's Fried Chicken (KFC/Kentucky Fried Chicken) and Khaki Republic (Banana Republic)
  • Blaxploitation: With a modern twist. Somewhat reconstructed. It's all in good fun, though, as the target demographic this time was white people.
  • Book Ends: Undercover Brother does a parachute jump at the beginning and end of the movie.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Undercover Brother looks directly into the camera as a car chase starts and asks, "Can you play something funky for a brother to drive to?" "Jungle Boogie" immediately kicks in.
  • Brick Joke: When Undercover Brother is first revealed, Conspiracy Brother shouts "It's Macy Gray with porkchop sideburns!" After the bank job, a news report mentions that singer Macy Gray was arrested in connection with the job, but released due to lack of evidence.
  • Bring It
    • Lance gestures to a guard and says "Come on!" to a guard before killing him.
    • Also spoofed during the pre-fight posturing between Undercover Brother and Mr. Feather. They both resort to increasingly elaborate gestures, trying to one-up the other. Undercover Brother wins. And all to the sound of "Beat It".
  • Calling Shotgun: Conspiracy Brother, as the group runs to the hovercraft.
  • Character Catchphrase: Undercover Brother has one, "Solid."
  • Cat Fight: White She Devil vs. Sistah Girl. In slo mo. In a shower. Causing the men to stop fighting and grab a bag of popcorn. And condoms. Can't say the movie didn't advocate safe sex. Can you really blame them? Some things transcend one's affiliation.
  • Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: The title character changes his clothes while jumping through a window. At other times he, Sistah Girl and Penelope Snow change their outfits by having their outer tearaway clothing ripped off of them (or ripping it off themselves).
  • Chekhov's Gun: James Brown in the introduction, the rear-view mirror balls, and "Don't touch the 'fro".
  • The Chessmaster: The Man
  • Chewing the Scenery: Chris Kattan as Mr. Feather. And how. He ends up having better moves than even Undercover Brother.
  • Code Name: Undercover Brother, Smart Brother, Conspiracy Brother, Sistah Girl, The Man. Mr. Feather might be one.
  • Codename Title: Spy Protagonist Title.
  • Combat Haircomb: Combat Afro Picks!
  • Compensating for Something: Sistah Girl accuses Undercover Brother of this, citing the afro, car and medallion.
  • Conspiracy Kitchen Sink: All conspiracies relating to blacks are true, except the one that OJ is innocent.
  • Conspiracy Theorist: Conspiracy Brother, to the point that, even though there actually is a secret conspiracy to undermine black people, he still comes across as a paranoid lunatic who may think that Everything Is Racist.
  • Cool Car: The title character's 1970s Cadillac DeVille Convertible (mistakenly called a Coupe deVille).
    • With Cadillacs, the 2 door models were Coupe while the 4 door were Sedan. The convertibles were two door but didn't use the Coupe part of the name, so the mistake is understandable.
  • Cowboy Cop: Undercover Brother, after joining the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D.
  • Crash-Into Hello: Undercover Brother (undercover as "Anton Jackson") and Penelope Snow AKA White She Devil
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: A villainous version. Despite his goofiness, Mr. Feather is a very effective Dragon to The Man and can handle himself very well in a fight.
  • Crazy-Prepared: Undercover Brother is always ready with for action.
    • At the beginning of the movie, before he goes into the bank he wears a parachute under his shirt so that if he has to jump off the top of the building to escape, he'll survive the experience.
    • He wears two combs in his hair, which he throws at the security guards at the golf club to pin them to the wall.
    • At the end of the movie, he has to jump off a cliff to avoid being blown up. Sista Girl says "he forgot his parachute", indicating that he will be dashed on the rocks below. However, he deploys mini-parachutes from his pants, saving himself.
  • Curtain Camouflage: The title character comes home and thinks there's someone hiding behind a curtain because he sees their shoes under it. He pulls the curtain aside to expose them but finds the shoes are empty. Then Sistah Girl shows up from offscreen and puts a gun to his head (she used her shoes as bait to distract him).
  • Da Chief: The leader of the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D.
  • Designated Girl Fight: When Undercover Brother and Sista Girl square off against White She Devil and two male mooks, Sista Girl fights White She Devil and Undercover Brother deals with the mooks.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Parodied. Undercover Brother is fighting with two mooks while White She-Devil and Sistah Girl are duking it out. When the cat fight turns into clothes-tearing and ends up in the shower, not only do the three men stop fighting, they set up seats and popcorn. And because they're so distracted by the two women's impending kiss, Undercover Brother is able to punch out the other two while Sistah Girl is able to do the same to White She-Devil.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: "The Fatty". Actually causes one businesswoman to have an Immodest Orgasm.
  • Don't Create a Martyr: The reason why General Boutwell isn't simply killed to keep him from being President.
    The Man: Now Boutwell might be President?!... I want the White House to stay white. Eliminate him!
    Mr. Feather: But, sir, if we kill him, we'll only be making him a hero.
  • Doomed Defeatist: Lance wigs out while he's in The Man's headquarters.
  • Dope Slap: Conspiracy Brother to Lance after he makes a racist comment.
  • The Dragon: Mr. Feather to The Man.
  • Dragon-in-Chief: Mr. Feather is the primary threat in the film despite being subservient to The Man.
  • Dramatic Necklace Removal: Undercover Brother's medallion.
  • Dreadlock Rasta: Undercover Brother disguises himself as this at one point, even quipping "Ja Mon. Rasta!"
  • Dressed in Layers: Undercover Brother when masquerading as a janitor, and White She Devil before her reveal.
  • Dumb Blonde: Subverted in that White She-Devil is only pretending to be this.
  • Easily Forgiven: White She Devil, much to Conspiracy Brother's chagrin - especially when she's made an official Agent.
    Conspiracy Brother: What the fuck? Chief! I ain't never seen this bitch in my secret agent classes! I'm still paying the loans off, man! I sleep on a pissy mattress! I ain't got good food to eat! I borrow money for my weed! I quit! That's it. Y'all ain't got Conspiracy Brother Jones to kick around no more! Give me a pillow case... I'm joining the Klan!
  • Elaborate Underground Base: The BROTHERHOOD has an extensive base located beneath a barber shop.
  • Every Car Is a Pinto
    • Parodied when a pair of mooks drive a golf cart into a gas main.
    • During a chase scene a Mook's motorcycle crashes and immediately bursts into flames.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Combined with Take That!: nobody in the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., not even Conspiracy Brother, believes O.J. Simpson is really innocent.
  • Everything Is Racist: The belief of Conspiracy Brother. It's really something that he's in a movie where there really is a white conspiracy run by The Man to keep black people down, and he still comes off as crazy.
    Undercover Brother: Hi.
    Conspiracy Brother: "Hi"? What you mean "hi"? Like "high-yellow-wanna-be-white"? "High" like the white man wants to keep us? Wait, you don't smell no weed on me, do you?
  • Evil Counterpart: Mr. Feather to Undercover Brother.
  • Evil Elevator: The cliche of the endless elevator going down to an Elaborate Underground Base is spoofed when the hero starts screaming hysterically as he drops, only to stop when he realises he's only traveled a single story.
  • Exit, Pursued by a Bear: ...or devoured by a random but conveniently placed shark as the case may be.
  • Expy
    • It's pretty obvious that the General was a stand-in for Colin Powell, right down to the rumored Presidential run.
    • The Barbershop secret entrance to The BROTHERHOOD's Headquarters was previously used in Issue #136 of Marvel Comics' "Strange Tales" (1965), a Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. storyline.
  • Face–Heel Turn: Undercover Brother, after he falls in love lust with Penelope Snow. That ass of hers would turn any man and woman astray.
  • The Faceless: The Man's head is always hidden in the shadows or kept out of the frame.
  • Fanservice: Sista Girl, Penelope Snow/White She Devil
  • Felony Misdemeanor: When Undercover Brother smashes a bag of chips, a Mook guard says that he just bought them! Undercover Brother apologizes.
  • Femme Fatale: White She Devil. Ends up reformed at the end.
  • Funny Background Event: Sistah Girl can be seen looking visibly annoyed at how Smart Brother instantly begins fawning all over White She-Devil.
  • Funny Bruce Lee Noises: UB breaks this out when taking down some guards.
  • Gadget Watch: It spritzes hot sauce.
  • Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: When Lance panics over the impending detonation of a Self-Destruct Mechanism ("We're gonna die! We're all gonna die!"), the title character repeatedly slaps him to bring him to his senses.
  • Girl on Girl Is Hot: Parodied. Sistah Girl and White She Devil get a Designated Girl Fight that somehow manages to end up in the shower. Undercover Brother and a pair of Mooks stop fighting and pull up some chairs and popcorn to watch.
  • Glove Snap: One of Mr. Feather's minions does this repeatedly, greatly to Mr. Feather's annoyance.
  • Gosh Darn It to Heck!: Undercover Brother as Anton Jackson after White She-Devil manages to make him behave caucasian. "If I hadn't read that article in Vanity Fair on anger management, I'd put away this guava-mango-broccoli smoothie and put my foot in your patootie! Now maybe you guys don't like my new me, but I don't give a GOSH DARN! For all I care, you can all get the beejeebies out of here!"
    Da Chief: White girl or no white girl, I wanna know where the hell have you been?
    Anton/UB: Not there, because that's where people who swear go, thank you very much.
  • Got Me Doing It: Again much to his great annoyance, Mr. Feather just couldn't keep himself from getting into that thang.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: The Man, a racist Caucasian who wants to rid the world of African-Americans.
  • Groin Attack: The title character does it to himself with a pair of nunchucks during his fight with Mr. Feather.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Conspiracy Brother, who breaks into a rant at the mention of various innocuous words. At one point Undercover Brother semi-sarcastically asks if he can just get a list of the words that set him off so he can avoid the rants.
  • A Handful for an Eye: Mr. Feather does it to Undercover Brother during their final battle.
  • Handshake Substitute: The security check to enter the BROTHERHOOD is a robotic arm which measures blackness of user by their handshake. Undercover Brother does a whole routine that passes the test.
  • Hand Signals
    • White She Devil uses them to give orders to her henchmen during the motorcycle/car chase.
    • During the final confrontation between Undercover Brother and Mr. Feather, the antagonists make exaggerated "Come here" gestures to each other.
  • Head Crushing:
    • Lance goes into a berserker state when three guards make the mistake of calling him a "sissy". He kills one of them by crushing his head.
    • Subverted while Undercover Brother is fighting several of The Man's mooks. After a mook screams out a Big "NO!", Undercover Brother is implied to crush the mook's skull offscreen by smashing down with his foot, resulting in a Sickening "Crunch!". However, the next shot reveals that he actually crushed a bag of the mook's potato chips. You can watch the scene here.
  • The Heavy: Mr. Feather is a much bigger threat than his boss, as he is shown frequently throughout the film.
  • High-Heel–Face Turn: White She Devil, after she experiences Undercover Brother's lovin'.
  • Hiroshima as a Unit of Measure: The spy camera scans people for levels of "Rhythm" and "401Ks".
  • Hollywood Glass Cutter: Played for Laughs when Undercover Brother breaks in through a window. He slices a circle in the window and then taps on it. This causes the entire rest of the window to shatter, leaving the cut-out circle intact.
  • Hypocrite:
  • Hypocritical Humor: The only reason Lance (a Caucasian) is a member of the BROTHERHOOD is Affirmative Action.
  • "I Know You Are in There Somewhere" Fight: Happens twice. Sista Girl does it to Undercover Brother and Undercover Brother does it to General Boutwell.
  • I Surrender, Suckers: Undercover Brother to the golf course guards.
  • Immodest Orgasm: The female cigarette executive during Anton Jackson's demonstration of "The Fatty".
  • Improbable Parking Skills: The title character, in the last scene of the movie.
  • Improvised Parachute: At the end of the final battle, Undercover Brother jumps from a high altitude but lands safely by pulling cords that turn his bell-bottom pants into a double Parachute Petticoat.
  • In Love with the Mark: Penelope Snow AKA White She Devil
  • Insane Troll Logic: Conspiracy Brother. See Conspiracy Theorist and Everything Is Racist.
  • Instant Costume Change: Undercover Brother jumps out of a window while dressed in what can be best described as a nerd disguise. On the other side, he comes out in his normal attire, complete with afro.
  • Insult Backfire: When Sistah Girl accuses Undercover Brother of Compensating for Something, he plays into it by pointing out that she forgot to mention his "big, black, fuzzy balls" — a rearview mirror decoration, which he then fondles to complete the joke.
  • Intimidating White Presence: Parodied when, in order to go undercover and investigate by pretending to be The Whitest Black Guy, the titular hero is made to watch a ton of film footage of white people by Smart Brother. By the end of it, Undercover Brother is panicking about "CAUCASIAN OVERLOAD!" and how "That's too much white for a brother to have!"
  • Intimidation Demonstration: Undercover Brother with his nunchucks and Mr. Feather with his Blade Below the Shoulder claw.
  • Island Base: The Man has his secret fortress built on an island with a giant M-shaped rock formation.
  • It's Raining Men: Undercover Brother, once with a parachute and once with bell bottoms.
  • Janitor Impersonation Infiltration
    • At the beginning, Undercover Brother dresses as a janitor (complete with Latex Perfection mask) to infiltrate a bank.
    • The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. agents pose as the Island Fortress Cleaning Service to infiltrate The Man's Island Base.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Da Chief. He may have a tendency to yell his head off at his employees at the drop of a hat, but he's not afraid to tell them how proud he is of them.
  • Jive Turkey: Most of the good guys, but notably Mr. Feather, who, to his own horror, keeps lapsing into ghettospeak.
  • Just Like Robin Hood: Before being recruited to the BROTHERHOOD, Undercover Brother was known as "the Robin Hood of the Hood" and was discovered by the BROTHERHOOD while he was deleting bank records to prevent foreclosure on people's homes.
  • Karaoke Bonding Scene: After the black Undercover Brother (in his Anton Jackson role) meets the white Penelope Snow, they spend the night at a karaoke restaurant where they sing the song "Ebony and Ivory" together as a sign of their growing love for each other.
  • Kiai: Parodied, as Undercover Brother shouts the names of black celebrities/musicians while fighting.
  • Kick Them While They Are Down: The title character does it to guard mooks twice.
  • Knuckle Cracking: After killing three guards with his bare hands, Lance does a neck crack.
  • Large Ham. Mr. Feather, but since he's played by Chris Kattan, it's sorta expected.
  • Last Request: Mr. Feather to James Brown before injecting him with the Mind Control drug.
  • Latex Perfection: Undercover Brother, when posing as a janitor and James Brown.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Mr. Feather becomes nauseated after a camera-swirling effect.
  • Le Parkour: While fighting Mr. Feather, Undercover Brother briefly jumps up on and runs along a wall to escape being sliced by Feather's Blade Below the Shoulder.
  • Lost in Translation: The movie is notable for being a pain to translate for foreign audiences since many jokes used in the movie only had sense for American viewers, but not for anyone outside the U.S., like the infamous mayonnaise scene.note  or, in less degree, the whole fried chicken plot.note .
  • Low-Speed Chase: Undercover Brother and Sista Girl are chased by security guards on a golf course, with both groups driving electric golf carts.
  • The Masquerade: The general public has no idea that two secret groups are locked in a war over racism in the United States: The Man's organization, which promotes white supremacy, and the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., which supports racial equality.
  • Master of Disguise: As an elderly janitor, a Rastafarian golf caddy, business executive Anton Jackson and James Brown.
  • May Contain Evil: the drug added to the General's Fried Chicken to make black people act white.
  • Meaningful Name: A white woman named Penelope Snow.
  • MegaCorp: Multinational Incorporated
  • Mind Rape: Undercover Brother (who is black) must infiltrate Multinational Inc., a corporation controlled by The Man's white supremacist organization. To do this, he must become familiar with white culture in order to fit in. Smart Brother uses a technique he calls "Caucasiavision" on Undercover Brother: using electronic goggles to make him watch film about white society. After watching for a while, Undercover Brother freaks out.
    Undercover Brother: Make it stop! Make it stop! I see white people. It's too much! Too much! Caucasian overload! Caucasian overload! Caucasian overload! That's too much white for one brother to take.
  • The Mole
    • White She Devil, while going by the name Penelope Snow.
    • Played twice, as for one moment during the final conflict, she appears to have been a double agent, before being revealed to be firmly on the Brotherhood's side.
  • Mook Chivalry: Sistah Girl and White She Devil in the Communications Room.
  • Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Lance goes off the deep end when he gets called a sissy.
  • Nobody Touches the Hair: Undercover Brother is very protective of his Afro, including telling Sista Girl, "Don't touch the hair!"; telling Conspiracy Brother, "Don't touch the 'fro!", and beating up Mr. Feather when he cuts off a piece of it: "You mess with the 'fro, you got to go."
  • No Party Given: An in-universe discussion of this takes place when the characters muse what party the General will run for President as.
  • Non-Action Guy: Conspiracy Brother. When Lance has frenzied murders of enemy mooks, Brother can only lamely say they were lucky he didn't get his chance to act.
  • Not My Driver: When Mr. Feather kidnaps James Brown.
  • N-Word Privileges: Conspiracy Brother (who is black) uses the N-word when talking to the other black characters. None of the members of The Man's white supremacist organization (Mr. Feather, The Man himself, White She-Devil etc.) ever use the word, even though, being out-and-out racists, they logically would.
  • Offhand Backhand: Sista Girl, to Undercover Brother and a golf course security guard.
  • Outrun the Fireball: Undercover Brother does this at the end of the movie.
  • Parody Sue: Undercover Brother doesn't even spill his full Big Gulp when in an uncontrolled tailspin.
  • Pass the Popcorn: UCB and White She Devil's mooks, during her Cat Fight with Sistah Girl.
  • Pistol Pose: The poster and DVD art for the film version have Undercover Brother posing with a gun. Star Eddie Griffin (who plays Undercover Brother) complained about this, noting that the character never uses a gun.
  • Pistol-Whipping: A security guard at the golf course to our hero, and Conspiracy Brother to Mr. Elias in the island fortress communications room.
  • Political Overcorrectness: Lance is the token white employee of the BROTHERHOOD, thanks to affirmative action laws.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: The Man and his organization are on a mission to undermine black society in favour of white supremacy.
  • Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: "You mess wit' the 'fro, you gots to go!"
  • The Precarious Ledge: While infiltrating the MegaCorp Multinational Inc., the title character must make his way along a ledge high up on the outside of a building in order to reach a room where he can download information from a computer.
  • Pretty Fly for a White Guy
    • White supremacist Mr. Feather constantly seems to have to battle to suppress an urge to be one of these. This causes him some stress.
    Mr. Feather: You see what's happening, don't you?! How we're being corrupted by their hipper-than-thou fashion and cool slang you can't help but use?!
    • At the end The Man as well.
  • Product Placement: Several times in the movie Undercover Brother is shown drinking a Big Gulp (a beverage cup sold by 7-11) full of orange soda.
  • Punch Catch: Sistah Girl to Conspiracy Brother when he tries to punch Lance in the face.
  • Punched Across the Room: White She Devil to Sistah Girl and Undercover Brother to Mr. Feather, both times with a kick.
  • Rage Breaking Point: Lance, the Brotherhood's only white employee (and Butt-Monkey) accepts all of the jokes at his expense with calmness and mild snark, but at the climax some of The Man's goons call him a "sissy" and the resulting Curb-Stomp Battle involves Lance murdering the lot of them with moves that are best described as live-action Mortal Kombat fatalities.
  • Rasputinian Death: Mr. Feather loses his grip and falls off The Man's helicopter over the ocean in response to Undercover Brother throwing Combat Haircombs in his bottom. Just before falling hundreds of feet (the impact alone of which would've killed him instantly) a large Threatening Shark leaps out of the water and swallows him whole.
  • Say It: A Running Gag involves Mr Feather struggling to resist the subversive influence of African-American culture. When he kidnaps singer James Brown, the inevitable happens.
    Mr Feather: (Playing with Syringes) So, Mr Godfather of Soul, life as you know it will soon cease to exist. Any... final requests?
    James Brown: Say it loud.
    (Oh, Crap! look from Mr Feather. Brown gets to his feet)
    James Brown: Say it, loud!
    (Feather starts twitching, throwing away his syringe)
    Doctor: What are you doing?
    James Brown: (dancing) SAY IT LOUD! (everyone stares at Feather as he convulses madly)
    James Brown: (pointing at Feather) SAY IT LOUD! SAY IT—
  • Schmuck Bait: The Big Red Button labeled "Atomic Core".
    Conspiracy Brother: "Atomic co-ray", huh? Let's see what this so-called "button" does...
  • Secret Test: Sista Girl pointing a gun at Undercover Brother to test his courage.
  • Self-Destruct Mechanism: The Atomic Core on The Man's island fortress.
  • The '70s: Undercover Brother's character is based on this era.
  • Sex–Face Turn: As mentioned, White She Devil switches sides after sleeping with Undercover Brother.
  • Shoe Phone: Two pairs of Tricked-Out Shoes and a Gadget Watch.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Sickening "Crunch!": Subverted. Undercover Brother is about to stomp a Mook who's lying on the ground. We see him stomp and hear a horrible crunching sound as he twists his foot but we don't actually see the stomp connect. Just when you think he's smashed the Mook's head in, the camera looks down and we see that he actually smashed a bag of potato chips. This doesn't make the mook any happier, as he moans that he had just bought them.
  • Sissy Villain: The other joke with Mr. Feathers.
  • The Smart Guy: Smart Brother, naturally.
  • So Beautiful, It's a Curse: White She Devil's lament.
  • Spinning Paper: The aforementioned news about John Singleton are presented via a spinning paper.
  • The Stoner: Conspiracy Brother. It's strongly hinted that his paranoia is due to his drug use.
  • Storming the Castle: The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. infiltrates The Man's secret compound at the end.
  • Strawman Political: Parodied like everything else. Conspiracy Brother snaps, "Name one thing the Republican Party has done for black people. ONE!" Smart Brother uses a lengthy "Lincoln was a Republican" rebuttal and seems ready to continue; Conspiracy Brother pauses for a beat, only to continue with "All right, name two things lately!"
  • Stylistic Suck: Anton singing karaoke.
  • Suddenly Shouting: A member of a trio of security guards calls Lance a sissy. Lance shrieks "I am not A SISSY!" and opens up a can of whup-ass on the guards, including ripping out one guard's spine Predator style.
  • Take the Wheel: The title character has Sistah Girl do this during the golf cart chase.
  • Tap on the Head: Undercover Brother to two Mooks, Sistah Girl and White She Devil to a group of mooks in the Communications Room.
  • Token White: Lance, who was hired because of affirmative action. Later White She Devil joins as well, over the objections of Conspiracy Brother, who was still paying off his student loans for the training he'd needed to get employed there.
  • Trailers Always Spoil: One of the trailers specifically said that Penelope Snow was White She Devil, AKA "Black Man's Kryptonite", which was a major reveal/surprise.
  • Tricked-Out Shoes: UB had two pairs — one takes you up, one sends data.
  • The Unseen: The Man's face is always hidden in shadow.
  • The Villain Must Be Punished: The Brotherhood foils The Man's plan to use General Warren Boutwell and James Brown to destroy the black community. When Mr. Feather tries to flee his secret base, Undercover Brother insists on going after him to stop The Man from getting another chance. The Man does escape, but Mr. Feather is killed by Undercover Brother.
  • What Does This Button Do?: It's the Self-Destruct Mechanism for the "atomic co-ray".
  • Where da White Women At?: Penelope Snow, AKA White She-Devil, aka Black Man's Kryptonite. The other guys at the BROTHERHOOD ask UCB whether his "first time" with her was really that good.
    • "She had pink nipples, didn't she?"
    • Of course Lance was doing it, too.
  • Wig, Dress, Accent: Undercover Brother, as the Rastafarian golf caddy and Anton Jackson.
  • X-Ray of Pain: As part of his Establishing Character Moment as a Just Like Robin Hood raider that fights The Man, the Undercover Brother fights off two security guards of an evil bank and literally puts his foot up the ass of one of them. The movie cuts from the Brother delivering the kick to an X-Ray animation of his foot going up the man's pelvic bone complete with Matrix-style swivel so we can see it from multiple angles.
  • You Have Failed Me: The Man to Mr. Feather after he fails to kill Undercover Brother.

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Top

Sistah Girl & White She Devil

Sistah Girl and White She Devil duke it out, until the former rips off part of the latter's outfit, causing White She Devil to do the same. Eventually, it turns into a cat fight that Undercover Brother and 2 of The Man's goons decide to watch, taking a break from the fighting for the sexy shower show.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (9 votes)

Example of:

Main / CatFight

Media sources:

Report