The Tattoo Connection (1978)

[鱷魚頭黑煞星]

Director: Lee Tso-Nam
Starring: Jim Kelly, Chen Sing, Tan Tao-Liang

Synopsis:
An ex-CIA insurance investigator travels to Hong Kong to recover a stolen diamond.

Impressions:
Although this film has been marketed as "Black Belt Jones 2", it's not actually a sequel to Black Belt Jones unless Black Belt Jones changed his name to Lucas. (I guess since Lucas is supposed to be ex-CIA, changing his name once or twice wouldn't be that farfetched.) This movie would be a fairly unremarkable schlocky Hong Kong action flick if it weren't for the presence of Jim Kelly as the lead. His line readings from the sound booth are rather stilted, but I imagine that was largely a problem of direction and given the quality of the other dub actors, he comes off looking like Oscar material. Of course, you're not here for the acting, the plot (which is fairly standard) or the cinematography (which tends to be rather terrible). You're here for the fight scenes and those are pretty good. I do like that main villain Boss Lu (Chen Sing) is capable of holding his own in a fight and Bolo Yeung is always good as a nasty thuggish heavy-hitter. Jim Kelly's bouts with deuteragonist Tung Hao (Tan Tao-Liang) are probably the best choreographed in the movie. It's not a great film by any stretch, but it's got decent enough action and because Jim Kelly's filmography isn't all that extensive, if you're a fan of his, you'll want to check it out.

Rating:
50/50