Uriah43 After a Senator's daughter by the name of "June Dunbar" (Judith Brown) is kidnapped by an Asian warlord named "Carter Rangoon" (Sam Hiona) and scheduled to be executed if the United States doesn't comply with his demands, two agents "Jones" (Jim Kelly) and "Johnny Chicago" (Geoffery Binney) are sent in to rescue her. To do this they need the assistance of the local police and "Detective Sergeant Pam Varaje" (Irene Tsu) is assigned this important task. However, what none of them take into consideration is how crafty Carter Rangoon can be when necessary. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I thought that Jim Kelly performed adequately enough for the most part. Unfortunately, the rather weak attempts at comedy involving a particular character nicknamed "Rhino" (George Memmoli) and the poor script proved too much and ruined what could have been a decent film. That said, I don't consider this to be a good martial arts film by any standard and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

Woodyanders A team of American special agents lead by super smooth ace martial artist Jones (the ever cool Jim Kelly) travel across Thailand to rescue June (Judith Brown sporting in atrociously overdone Southern accent), the daughter of a U.S. senator who's been abducted by the evil Rangoon (Sam Hiona doing a third-rate Fu Manchu impression). Writer/director Oscar Williams, who previously penned the lowdown funky blaxploitation winners "Black Belt Jones" and "Truck Turner," really fumbles the ball with this disappointingly mild and plodding PG-rated clunker: the sluggish pace, meandering narrative, and especially lots of extremely dumb and forced attempts at painfully unfunny and witless humor doom this baby to outright mediocrity. The cast struggle gamely with the subpar material: Kelly just about manages to retain his dignity throughout, the lovely and personable Irene Tsu adds some spark and spunk as feisty lady cop Pam, Geoffrey Binney is okay as the hip Joe Chicago, and Brown ain't half bad in a second role as the fetching and duplicitous femme fatale Leslie. However, George Memmoli is simply insufferable as the White Rhino, an obnoxious bumbling fat slob comic relief character who's supposed to be lovable and amusing, but instead proves to be extremely irritating and unappealing. Several action set pieces like a dangerous trek down a river on a raft and a raid on a village on a bunch of rampaging elephants fail to deliver the expected thrilling pay-offs due to the fact that they are clumsily executed. A hideously sappy romantic interlude at the halfway point doesn't help matters any. Only in the surprisingly dynamic and exciting last third does this flick finally spring to life, but by then it's much too little way too late to compensate for the general tedium which preceded it. A very blah and forgettable wash-out.

C. Sean Currie (hypestyle) Professional martial artist/instructor-turned-actor Jim Kelly stars in "Hot Potato". This film, released in 1975. The film is a nominal sequel to 1974's "Black Belt Jones": Here, Kelly again plays a US government agent/contractor, 'black belt' Jones, but no mention is made at all of his adventure battling Pinky & the Los Angeles Mob, so this could alternately be thought of as a prequel as well. Presumably the film was mainly meant for overseas/international audiences, as it is light on dialogue (despite the principals being American), and mostly dependent on extended fight sequences (replete with slapstick sound effects) to move the plodding plot along.The plot-- such as it is-- involves the kidnapped adult daughter (Judith Brown) of a southern U.S. senator, who is held a fictional southeast Asian island country by a crime lord, Rangoon, (Sam Hiona). Jones is partnered with two Americans who are also martial artists, the slick-talking Chicago (Geoffrey Binney) and the potbellied Rhino (George Memmoli). A tough-talking fourth party, Thai detective (Irene Tsu), leads the rescue expedition (and guess who she falls for?) "Black Belt Jones" screenwriter Oscar Williams does double duty as writer/director here, but the film seemingly suffers. Attempts at comedy just come across as lame, as when a toy car seems to genuinely terrify a crew of indigenous henchmen, or when Rhino gets into a pick-up Sumo match with a local; A "romantic interlude" is shoehorned in just before a climactic battle, involving random fireworks, a crucified woman and a pit with two tigers.Kelly, inexplicably paired with two bickering sidekicks, has even less dialogue here than in its predecessor. Chicago's smart-aleck front supposedly masks his pain over losing a wife and child 5 years ago; Rhino (the most obnoxious presence in the film) apparently spends his free time in eating contests with locals and trying to bed multiple women; As a "fish out of water" escapade, this film doesn't have the same impact as "Black Belt Jones" and its hip-urban-America setting. The film, shot on location in Thailand, takes advantage of the interesting visuals of the landscape, including ancient buddhist temples.One last thing: It's a mystery just what the title 'Hot Potato' refers to, if anything: Likely just something 'clever' thought up by the filmmakers and/or the studio.

gridoon This "sort of" a sequel to "Black Belt Jones" (Jim Kelly's character is referred to merely as "Jones") is far inferior. The comedy is lame, the acting mediocre and the dialogue often very bad. But there is a continuous stream of action running through the film, and Kelly shows once again that he had the stuff to be a martial-arts star (although his career was fairly brief). Plus, there are the colorful exotic locations that help you keep watching even the worst scenes. (**)