There is a danger to being topical in Cinema. Iconic films can do this well, making them benchmark films that define their Generation and/or Era. Good or bad films can do this, whether they are The Trip, Scream or The Outsiders...and then there's Shaft in Africa. This film does not exactly seem all that serious or relevant nowadays. After two films, Shaft had to go big. To that end, they decided to go to Africa- Lord only knows why. Shaft in Africa has the titular hero going to the titular continent (which isn't a country- sorry, Sarah Palin) to stop a modern-day slave trade. Will he be able to do the deed in his final adventure (not counting the 2000 disappointment)? To find out, read on...
A bad, bad man is keeping the slave trade alive from Paris. He's such a bad Blaxploitation villain that his lady gives him a hummer in the car on the way to a business deal. No, really!
Shaft is confronted by a mysterious group of men who try to hire him by force. When he says 'no,' they...
...strip him naked and put him through a series of tests that include defending himself with a stick and trying to survive extreme heat.
He's still wary of their offer- even after the $25,000 pay day- until he realizes that he can 'get some' from the client's daughter. This is Shaft's 'I'm gonna get me some' face.
Naturally, he does just that. It sure was convenient that he could do it mid-mission too. All that work is hard. Speaking of hard...
Shaft continues on his mission, working his way up the Slave Labor Ladder. Despite being known, he continues to elude capture and manages to score with the bad guy's girl. Classic Shaft.
He gets back to Paris and meets up with this Marty Feldman-looking guy. He's close to the villain and continues to wrack up pathos from his friends.
Finding the villain's lair, he drives a tiny, European car to the Castle and kicks some ass.
Joining forces with the Africans who broke free, Shaft kills the bad guys and blows up his place. Not for nothing, his palatial French Estate wasn't evil. The End.
Shaft is oddly out of place here. The film isn't bad, but it does a lot of odd things. For one thing, Shaft is a Spy here. The jump from Private Eye to Spy is a big one and they handle it kind of sloppily. He makes a joke about it...but still does it anyways. Secondly, Shaft is both the world's worst and best Spy. On one hand, he is discovered before he even leaves Manhattan. On the other hand, he continues to work on the mission and actually succeeds. How the hell is that even possible?!? The answer is that the villains are all idiots who keep trying to kill Shaft, but never seem to quite tell everyone involved to go after him. It's called a phone- look it up! This plot device exists to have action scenes every five to ten minutes. It's a decent excuse, but I would have preferred a different story personally. As a film, Shaft in Africa is the kind of Blaxploitation Action that you'd expect. It would have been nice to see something unique, but you don't get it here. Take us away, magically-appearing pants...
Next up, I wrap up (hopefully) another film series- Lake Placid. Logic and story be damned- we need to feed more people to shitty, CG creatures! Stay tuned...
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