Review of Shaft's Big Score! (1972) by Van R — 21 Nov 2010

The difference between "Shaft" and "Shaft's Big Score" is that director Gordon Parks flaunts a bigger, beefer budget. Whereas the production values on the original "Shaft" seemed threadbare, "Shaft's Big Score" boasts a thick carpet piled with production values. Unmistakably, "Shaft's Big Score" is an impressively photographed epic with "The Seven Ups" lenser Urs Furrer teaming back up with Parks. Furrer creates eloquent visual compositions with his Panavision cameras, especially during car, boat, and helicopter chase. Nothing is claustrophobic about this spacious sequel. Okay, Issac Hayes doesn't reprise his role as composer. Director Gordon Parks performs double duty as composer with three songs that he penned the lyrics to so he took up the slack wherever he could. The opening moments of this "Shaft" have been staged with considerable finesse. The cross-cutting between Shaft at the wheel of a car in route to meet with a close friend, Cal Asby (Robert Kya-Hill) and the friend pacing his insurance office is nicely done. Joseph Mascolo's villain is not your usual thuggish type. He is an accomplished clarinet player who appreciates the finer things in life. Ernest Tidyman, who created the "Shaft" character, wrote the sequel, and he doesn't retread the original. Crime boss Bumpy Jones (Moses Gunn of "Shaft") and his bodyguard Willy (Drew Bundini Brown) reappear here, too, but Captain Bollin (Julius W. Harris of "Live and Let Die") replaces Lieutenant Vic Androzzi (Charles Cioffi of "Shaft").

A partner in a New York City numbers racket, Cal Ashby, dies in an explosion and his partner John Kelly (Wally Taylor of "Rocky III") searches for the loot that Ashby cleaned out of the safe. Meanwhile, the Mafia wants half of the action and Kelly already owes mob boss Gus Mascola (Joseph Mascolo of "Jaws 2") a quarter of a million dollars. As it turns out, Cal Ashby's half of the organization belongs to his younger sister, Arna Asby (Rosalind Miles of "The Black Six"), and she is hanging out with private detective John Shaft. Ashby and Shaft are friends so when Ashby dies in the explosion, Captain Bollin wonders if Shaft hasn't gone over to the other side because he saw Shaft speaking with Bumpy and Willy after the funeral. Meanwhile, Kelly learns from a custodian at the funeral home that Ashby had a shopping bag with him before he died and he entered the casket display room where the models are arranged for customers to review. Shaft wants answers from Kelly, and Kelly asks that Gus take Shaft off his back. Shaft outsmarts a couple of Italian mobsters who call on him. Eventually, Gus and his men get to Shaft and rough him up. If turn about is fair play, Shaft retaliates later when Willy and he masquerade as window washers and break into Gus's luxurious penthouse. Shaft beats up Gus and Willy drops Pascal (Joe Santos of "Blue Thunder") with a bottle across the top of his head. Anyway, Kelly concludes that Ashby must have stashed the loot in his coffin so he takes a crew out to the cemetery and they exhume the casket. The Italians descend on the graveyard by helicopter. Gus gets every dollar bill from Kelly because Kelly owes him everything and then Pascal's men riddle the lot of them with lead. By this time, Shaft has shown up and he surprises the Italian, disarms them, and takes Gus hostage. One of Kelly's girlfriends, Rita (Kathy Imrie of "16 Blocks"), takes the wheel while Shaft slams Gus into the backseat and Pascal pursues them in a Dodge Charger for a lengthy, careening, high speed automobile chase. The Italians in the helicopter hover over the scene and a marksman with a sniper rifle takes potshots at them.

"Shaft's Big Score" lives up to its name. The plot is complicated enough without being obtuse. The visual look and design are impeccable. This is such a polished piece of celluloid that it's difficult to believe that Parks and Furrer could exhibit such artistry. The music is different and bolsters the savage action. Roundtree nails the Shaft persona again and the rest of the cast is good, especially Joe Santos. Parks doesn't wear out his welcome either as "Shaft's Big Score" clocks in at a 105 minutes. This is a vintage example of blaxploitation as its finest.