Review of Shaft in Africa (1973) by Aaron R — 30 Jul 2007

Cool movie, but the whole "going native" thing seemed under utilized. And how did he get all that info after abandoning his stick and tape recorder on the boat? The (Dutch?) woman was hot for 1973, but the plot seemed to go crazy at about the point where she got killed.

I would have preferred to see Shaft in a more "Temple of Doom" scenario where he would become "enslaved" with the other Africans (to see how the other half lives)and have to fight his way to the bad guy.

This adventure seemed entirely too easy for him from the boat part onward, and the whole African-American/African kinship/bond thing that was popular in the 60s and early 70s could have been better utilized here instead of just touched on.

When compared to his Ethiopean counterparts, Shaft seems just as "white" as his enemies, knowing nothing of the culture, and at times seems downright hedonistic, basically sleeping with anything that breathes and reducing women to little more than pieces of meat to sleep with and help accomplish his mission.

Although this is not to be taken seriously considering the nature of the times and blaxploitation flicks in general, there is an irony in that these movies that were meant to empower minorities also reinforced stereotypes.