The idea of casting a black actor as James Bond has floated around for years (black actress Lashana Lynch will apparently be the new 007 in the untitled 25th Bond film), but one successful variation on the notion was 1973’s Shaft in Africa, the third and final entry in the original Shaft blaxploitation trilogy about New York City private detective John Shaft (Richard Roundtree). Here, streetwise Shaft is on more of an international 007-like adventure, infiltrating a human trafficking ring. After passing several tortuous physical tests, Shaft is deemed strong enough to pose as one of the many Ethiopian men being lured to Europe for allegedly good-paying jobs. But once in Paris, the illegal immigrants discover that they are enslaved under the corrupt grip of a sick villain (Frank Finlay). Shaft takes to the mission with a fury and impressive physicality, scrambling over roofs, fighting stick-wielding bad guys, and riding a camel. Director John Guillermin brings his typically sharp craftsmanship to the pace and vigor of a better-than-average action movie which, somewhat surprisingly, was written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Stirling Silliphant (In the Heat of the Night). Without fanfare, Silliphant seamlessly incorporates Bond-like ambitions while still embracing some of the sexual elements from the earlier Shaft films, and bluntly touching on a few perennially topical Third World themes, including mandatory clitoridectomy for some African women. Recommended. (T. Keogh)
Shaft in Africa
Warner, 112 min., R, Blu-ray: $21.99 Volume 34, Issue 5
Shaft in Africa
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