Movie Review: Black Belt Jones (1974)

DIRECTOR: Robert Clouse. CAST: Jim Kelly, Gloria Hendry, Scatman Crothers, Eric Laneuville, Alan Weeks, Andre Philippe, Vincent Barbi, Mel Novak, Malik Carter, Eddie Smith, Earl Jolly Brown, Jac Emil, Earl Maynard, Marla Gibbs, Ted Lange, Clarence Barnes, Esther Sutherland, Nate Esformes.
Jim Kelly’s charismatic performance in Enter the Dragon ensured that he would star in a martial arts action movie of his own. Black Belt Jones successfully cashes in on both the ‘70s kung fu craze and the blaxploitation boom in delightful fashion. You’ve seen this story take place in countless chop-socky classics; it is essentially Fist of Fury in an urban setting. Kelly is Jones, a martial arts expert for hire called in to help protect a black-owned karate dojo from the Mafia thugs who want the building for themselves. They kill the dojo’s owner and kidnap one of the students, but won’t be able to withstand the kung fu fury of Black Belt Jones and his equally skilled female accomplice. Thoroughly entertaining b-movie fare with a funky soundtrack that is best viewed with friends eating greasy pizza.