Cleopatra Jones And The Casino Of Gold (1975) Way back on 12/2/20, BQ fondly remembered 1973's 'Cleopatra Jones', a sterling addition to this site's Pantheon Of Guilty Pleasures.
Who could resist the towering, Amazonian stunner Tamara Dobson in the title role.....a not so secret agent who unleashes her endless legs to literally kick drug lords in oblivion......
Certainly not I......
And bless the Movie Godz (and Warner Brothers) for bringing her back two years later in an even more action-drenched adventure.....with our gal Cleo kung-fu-ing her way through Hong Kong and Macau.......and for a grand finale, demolishing a vast, Vegas-style casino with machine guns and kung-fu bikers. Wahoooo!
Two huge improvements in this one.....handing over direction to Chuck Bail, who mostly functioned as one of Hollywood's top stunt directors (including the crazy array of car chases in "Freebie And The Bean"). Bail never lets anything slow down to perpetual onslaught of fights, chases, explosions and other general mayhem.
Bail understood that nobody watches a 'Cleopatra Jones' movie to glean deep insights into the human condition......(that's what 'Bevis and Butthead' is for)
Second huge improvement......the villain's casting, which in the Cleo-verse, must always be a queer woman drug kingpin with with a hot temper and loads of minions....
The first film miscast the frowzy, chunky Shelly Winters in this role. Shelley did give it the full hambone treatment, but she looked ridiculous going Mano-e-Mano with Dobson.....kind of like Roseanne Barr having it out with Gal Gadot.
The ever gorgeous 1960's starlet Stella Stevens plays the new drug running nemesis, conveniently named..... Dragon Lady. She's more than a match for Dobson in every way.....vicious, lethal and a beauty to die for.....(which befalls some of cast members unlucky enough to cross her path)
Aided by a local private eye Mi Ling (Ni Tien) and Mi's team of martial arts motorcycling daredevils, the stage is set for a colossal showdown at Dragon Lady's massive casino.......and the movie delivers a full spectacle of blazing firefights, kung-fu-ing up the wazoo, hair raising bike stunts and a staggering body count. As I previously mentioned.......wahoooo!
Enormous dumb fun from beginning to end......cook up the popcorn and switch off all thought processes.....you won't need 'em. 4 stars (****)
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