Cleapatra Jones is one of those movies that you might have caught on t.v. as a little kid and thought, "Wow, that was amazing! I want to be just like her!" Then, when you are older and see it scheduled to come on t.v. again, or see it in the video store, you arrange to watch it with all sorts of anticipation and end up laughing through the entire movie-the choreographed fight scenes, the extreme villains, the jive "put downs". Either way, it is a cool movie to watch, whether you want to go "WOW" or joke it.
I think Tamara Dobson is absolutely stunning in the movie. Very glamorous and very "tough" (if you disregard the fake fight scenes)and within the context of the movie, she is very smart. Blaxploitation films had their place back in the day (and they still do).
Shelly Winters played a "surprising" role as the villain. If you need to get a handle on this, view the movie, "I'm Gonna to git You Sucka"- Towards the end of the movie, a whole list of actors/actresses, who are thought to be above playing in exploitation movies, are named in various exploitation films. Of course Cleopatra Jones is mentioned.
While the movie can be classified as "cheesy" by many, it does have action, adventure, and romance. The action is non-stop-Cleo is always kung fuing someone or driving the hell out of her Corvette to get away from the bad guys. Also, there a pretty neat scene where she rides a motorcycle up a steep hill to everyone's dismay (if you happen to catch CJ on DVD or VHS, use pause on this scene-it is clearly a Caucasian male, with brown makeup, who is actually riding the motorcycle). The adventure is during the beginning-she is in Turkey blowing up poppy fields. Also, her investigations takes her to various parts of town and she interfaces with various "interesting" supporting characters. And then there is the romantic scene with her and Bernie Casey.
If anything, CJ is a wonderful film to have going if you happen to have a 70's theme party or something.
