Review of Shaft's Big Score! (1972) by Peter W — 16 Oct 2009

Gordon Parks' sequel to his 1971 blaxplotation success seems to fall short of the popularity and status of the original. But, as the hyped update with Samuel L Jackson is on the way, Shaft's Big Score and the next film, Shaft In Africa, may become more well-known.

To be honest, I made my Shaft debut with Big Score. The hype over the new film made me eager to see the original but I had to settle with this sequel. For all the excitement, I was truly dissapointed but I am going to refuse to judge the original, Shaft In Africa and the Jackson update by this film's standards.

Richard Roundtree returns as John Shaft, the supercool black detective, quick with words and quick with a gun. The opening sequence sees him speeding towards the place of a friend who knows he is about to get murdered. We see some money being hidden, so we ourselves try and figure what it's all about. Shaft doesn't make it on time but he takes over the case.

What follows is a detective thriller that never explains itself well and confuses the audience even though at the end of the day, the plot - Shaft looking for his deceased friend's hidden money which is sought after by gangsters - is simple. At most times, the violence and language is unecessary but despite how excessive these things are, no real tension arises between the characters - they just swear at them and beat them up. No edge arises in the plot so there are no scenes which feature suspense. Finally, when the climax comes it starts out as a simple graveyard shoot-up but ends up on a dock-side building site complete with boats, helicopters, etc. It's spectacularly over-the-top and ridicously overlong and again there's no excitement.

The only thing that kept me watching really was Roundtree. He's great as Shaft and has a real strong presence. Actually, Roundtree makes Shaft come across a nice guy but can easily toughen him up and make his brutality come out. The supporting cast features no one famous but no one gives a bad peformance.

So, Shaft's Big Score is a big let down. But I advise you (and myself) to check out more of Shaft's adventures, as the hero has the potential and status to feature in thrillers a lot more satisfying than this.