Joe
Bullet is a ‘70s South African action movie made during the time of the
American Blaxploitation craze. Soon
after its release, it was suppressed by the vile apartheid government and remained
unseen for decades. Thankfully, for fans
of ‘70s black action films it has resurfaced.
I can’t say it’s a classic or anything, but I’m certainly glad it exists
and can be seen by viewers all around the world.
A
shadowy underworld figure is intimidating the Eagles soccer team in hopes of
getting them to bow out of a big championship match. After one of their coaches are murdered, the
manager turns to a badass named Joe Bullet (Ken Gampu) to protect his players. Not only does Joe kick the bad guys’ asses,
he kicks the soccer ball around as he also helps coach the team! Did you ever see Shaft do that? I don’t think so!
Joe
Bullet gives you just about everything you could possibly want from a
Blaxploitation movie. There’s a kickass
theme song, Kung Fu, some fine action beats, and a few cheesy/cool moments
(like when the villain turns a poisonous snake loose on Joe). What makes Joe a bit different than a Shaft
or a Superfly is he’s also a master of disguise! Oh, and even though his name is “Joe Bullet”,
he seems just as handy with a knife. In
fact, he kills so many people with a knife that it makes me wonder why they
didn’t call him Joe Blade.
Like
Shaft, the film starts out great, but the pacing drags in the second half. The film is also riddled with jump cuts. I’m not sure if that was due to the government
cutting stuff out or if it was just the filmmakers’ own mistakes or what. I do know it gets distracting sometimes. The action is a bit uneven as the movie enters
the third act, and the Climbing Villain finale ends abruptly. Still, it hangs together well enough thanks to
a good central performance by Gampu.
I
can’t say for sure if Joe Bullet is the definitive South African Blaxploitation
movie, but it’s certainly the best one I’ve seen.
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