Shaft in Africa (1973)

 

Shaft #4

Synopsis: Um…the title of this film is Shaft in Africa. Take a wild guess where he goes. 

Blurb From the DVD jacket: “Finally, there’s Shaft in Africa (‘He’s the Brother Man in the Motherland' proclaimed the ads) with our hero bringing down a slavery cartel.” 

What Did I Learn?: 1) John Shaft learned stick fighting by conducting the New York Philharmonic (and he’s apparently so good at it that he’s able to defeat men who have been doing it all of their lives). 2) Shakespeare was a Johnny-come-lately. 3) The size of a man’s nose is apparently a good indicator for the size of his you-know-what. 

You Might Like This Movie If: You're a die-hard fan of the Four Tops. 

Really?: This film’s entire plot is patently ridiculous. Let’s see - the Emir has Shaft beaten up twice, kidnapped, and even locked in a room that’s 43 degrees Celsius, but Shaft nevertheless agrees to go on an extremely dangerous assignment in Ethiopia despite not knowing any language besides English. The villains know that Shaft is trying to infiltrate their human smuggling operation and even attempt to kill him on numerous occasions, yet he can’t bring himself to alter the compromised plan. 

Rating: Shaft in Africa is a big departure from the first two Shaft films; Richard Roundtree does a decent job of carrying this movie, and even manages to make his character somewhat likeable, but the plot doesn’t make any sense (see: “Really” and “What Did I Learn?” #1) the ending looks slapped-together and by Shaft’s own admission, he isn’t James Bond so it’s disconcerting to see him as a globe-trotting superhero rather than the Big Apple-savvy, leather trenchcoat wearing private eye we met in the first two flicks. Shaft in Africa isn’t quite a bad movie, but it comes close to becoming one. 5.5/10 stars. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070679/?ref_=tt_sims_tt