Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold

Follow-up to 1973's far better "Cleopatra Jones" has statuesque black actress Tamara Dobson returning to her signature role as chic, super-tough narcotics agent, here busting a heroin ring in Hong Kong. Cross-pollination of blaxploitation action-flick and kung-fu B-movie is fun at the outset but eventually flags. The shoot-out finale is right off the assembly-line, and Dobson herself seems less energetic than before (she's still sexy, and she puts a unique spin on her comically-stilted dialogue, but these surroundings may have been too much of one thing for her--she's jaded). Stella Stevens plays the villainess this time; she's good, but can't match Shelley Winters in the predecessor. ** from ****

'Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold' is even more enjoyable than 'Cleopatra Jones' (if such a thing is possible!), because it realizes that the best thing about the first movie was its sense of fantasy. The sequel doesn't even attempt to be realistic or socially aware, it goes for trashy Bond-like entertainment, and is all the better for it.

Special Agent Cleopatra Jones (the beautiful Tamara Dobson) arrives in Hong Kong after the disappearance of her friends the Johnson brothers (the always amusing Albert Popwell and Caro Kenyatta) in a drug sting gone wrong. She befriends a local street smart girl Mi Ling (Tanny) who helps her track them down. All paths lead to The Dragon Lady (Stella Stevens).

In the first movie Cleo's nemesis Momma was played by Shelley Winters, a drug pushing lesbian. In this movie it's Winters' 'Poseidon Adventure' co-star Stevens, again a drug pushing lesbian. What's up with that? I don't know, but The Dragon Lady beats Momma at her own game, she also runs a gold casino in Macao, has foxier girlfriends, and is pretty nifty with a sword.

This is fantastically entertaining silliness. Cleopatra wears her usual outrageous outfits, talks tough, kicks ass, and never runs out of wise-cracks or loses her cool. The relocation to Hong Kong and the ensuing increase in martial arts is a good thing. Don't ignore this movie if you're a fan of blaxploitation, 'Enter The Dragon' or James Bond. Great fun!

Made in the midst of the seventies and the era just before the explosion of the horror genre. Just before that exploitation was the independent thing. And of course black actors wanted to have their own exploitation. Here we have a very good example what we call blaxploitation. But this here is really good. Naturally the main leads are black people but the one to look out to is Tamara Dobson. She was a natural beauty but sadly she became sick and stopped making movies in 1984. She died of her disease which was MS in 2006. Here she's Cleopatra Jones, let's just say a black 007. But look how the feature was made, back in those days they knew how to do their stuff, no CGI or other stupid effects, here's it's the real stuff but here it's effects in the attacks and the many fights. Don't think that you will see a serious amount of blood, no it doesn't. But of course for the seventies nudity was a normal thing and it contains some nudity. But also have a look at Cleopatra's clothes and the way they put some make-up on her. The score, pure seventies, this is excellent stuff. I can't say anything that I didn't like in it. The chases with the cars and motorcycles, it goes on for minutes. You can guess it, one to watch

In some ways, you could be forgiven for considering this one only a borderline example of blaxploitation. It certainly isn't an exploitation film in any way and plays more like a standard secret agent action movie, where the heroine just happened to be black. The previous Cleopatra Jones film was another which was a little more family-friendly so-to-speak, with less salacious content than was normal for the genre and establishment friendly narcotic agent heroine, yet it still had Cleopatra kicking about the streets of L. A. knocking drug peddlers about. In this one, like in jet-setting action movies such as the James Bond series - the action is wholly switched to an exotic location, in this case Hong Kong. Of course, that allows the film to tap into the then massively popular kung-fu film craze. Two undercover agents go missing in Hong Kong and a female drug queen is thought to be responsible - Cleopatra Jones is sent over to sort it out.

It has to be said that this is an inferior sequel, with Cleopatra taking too much of a backseat, with the Hong Kong angle amplified at her expense. Its not to the films advantage, as the title character is the star attraction here and its her we want to see more than anything. It also feels like the blaxploitation element has been too diluted in general, which is hardly too surprising given the location. Statuesque Tamara Dobson is still a good presence here, with Stella Stevens doing some good things as the evil female gang boss role, covered by Shelley Winters in the previous movie. But mainly this one is too much of a generic action romp and it does lose the off-the-wall element which makes the best blaxploitation films so enjoyable.

This sequel to "Cleopatra Jones" reduces the blaxploitation elements and adds a HK flavor to the mix, with colorful production design and over-the-top stunts (definitely some "ouch!" moments here). Tamara Dobson is a little sexier this time (despite the excessive makeup), but she still lacks a certain grace in her fighting, and she is overshadowed by her Chinese co-star Tanny, who is not only beautiful but executes some great kicks as well. Stella Stevens, as the villainess, is also a major improvement over Shelley Winters, as she actually poses a physical challenge to Cleo (who knew that Stevens could be so good with a sword?). Overall, this sequel is better than the original mainly because it feels more like a HK action film than an American action film. (**1/2)