For some reason, I had been seeing this at local media pawn stores for a while now. A lot of the time the copies had been in the extra cheap "Please take this away" bin. So, I figured, why not, it can't be that bad. Honestly, it's not. Cleopatra Jones has some fun stuff to it, but it also had a hard time keeping my attention. Average is better than bad I guess.
The movie starts with the title character looking fantastic and showing up in a country filled with terrorists and heroin-producing poppies. It's not told to us, but I am guessing she bought the poppy field, which she then destroys with a firebomb dropping jet. It's a neat beginning to the film, and kind of leaves you with the impression it's going a spy-style film. It's not. See, after a drug-dealing madame in CJ's hometown uses crooked cops to attack one of Cleo's drug rehab homes, our heroine comes home to fight the war on drugs all by herself.
Now, this is when it gets a bit bland. While "mommy" the madame seems like the villain, the movie pushes more that drugs are the villain. Which, while they make a good villain aren't the most talkative. This leads to us watching random action scenes and car chases which are a bit choppy on the editing front. As well as having us zoomed in so close on the fight scenes so they can try to hide the ineptitude of the martial arts being done. Add that to an uninteresting story, and you have a dull film. Not bad, just dull.
While Cleopatra Jones has its moments, the movie as a whole just doesn't entertain enough to look past its flaws. I figure it's worth at least one watch, but more for those interested in Blaxploitation than action films.
The movie starts with the title character looking fantastic and showing up in a country filled with terrorists and heroin-producing poppies. It's not told to us, but I am guessing she bought the poppy field, which she then destroys with a firebomb dropping jet. It's a neat beginning to the film, and kind of leaves you with the impression it's going a spy-style film. It's not. See, after a drug-dealing madame in CJ's hometown uses crooked cops to attack one of Cleo's drug rehab homes, our heroine comes home to fight the war on drugs all by herself.
Now, this is when it gets a bit bland. While "mommy" the madame seems like the villain, the movie pushes more that drugs are the villain. Which, while they make a good villain aren't the most talkative. This leads to us watching random action scenes and car chases which are a bit choppy on the editing front. As well as having us zoomed in so close on the fight scenes so they can try to hide the ineptitude of the martial arts being done. Add that to an uninteresting story, and you have a dull film. Not bad, just dull.
While Cleopatra Jones has its moments, the movie as a whole just doesn't entertain enough to look past its flaws. I figure it's worth at least one watch, but more for those interested in Blaxploitation than action films.