BLACK BELT JONES 2: THE TATTOO CONNECTION is a film that has absolutely no connection with the original BLACK BELT JONES, other than the presence of black kung fu star Jim Kelly. Instead it's a classic chop-socky film from Hong Kong made during a golden period that saw dozens and dozens of similar films flooding the market. These ranged from kung fu oddities and bizarre flicks to the dozens of 'Brucesploitation' movies that cast actors who looked like Bruce Lee (and many who didn't) in a bid to fool audiences and cash in on the Bruce Lee craze. The presence of action star Jim Kelly, who starred with Bruce in ENTER THE DRAGON, also lend a blaxploitation angle to some of these films and BLACK BELT JONES 2 is among the best in his short-lived career.

The plot is nothing new and Kelly might as well be a secret agent like James Bond for all it matters. As soon as he steps off the plane he's up to his neck in it with a criminal gang who are into diamond smuggling in a big way. As light as it is, the plot serves as a fitting background to the regular bouts of action that are shoehorned in every five or so minutes. Many of the fights are predictable and see Kelly battling against dozens of inferior opponents and tackling them in a fun way. The black star is no great shakes as an actor – in fact he's unforgivably wooden – but he's entertaining in the film's many fight scenes and the fast pace means we'll always see him taking down a bad guy sooner or later.

The fight coordinator on this movie is none other than Bruce Liang, who himself has a small role in the proceedings. Liang was a Bruce Lee imitator himself and made plenty of films, some good, some not so good, but his presence here is a definite bonus and he adds style to the battles. There are plenty of other actors familiar from Hong Kong cinema in the cast, while the producers have worked hard to include plenty of Chinese actresses who don't mind stripping off on camera. Pretty much every female in the film spends most of her time in the nude and the highlight (or low light, depending on which way you look at it) is a nude disco dancing scene that takes the film to new levels of cheesy exploitation.

These films always tend to cast a few proper fighters as the big name 'bosses' that the heroes have encounters with during the running time before setting them against each other for a climatic showdown. Chen Sing, a familiar actor from many, many kung fu flicks, is the big bad guy and he makes a sleazy impression. I was delighted to see the muscle-bound Bolo Yeung also making an appearance as a henchman, almost exactly the same role he played in CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER, although he's on screen for longer here.

There are multiple action sequences to enjoy and those with Jim Kelly are always a pleasure. The showdown in a lumber yard in which our hero hangs for his life onto the roof of a car before defeating the driver is a highlight and it's good to see Kelly doing his own stunts here. I also really liked the bit where Bolo and another big guy murder a poor fat guy with a broken arm, but not before he puts up a very good fight in an attempt to flee. Director Lee Tso Nam made plenty of weird-sounding kung fu flicks during his career (THE INVINCIBLE KUNG FU LEGS, SHAOLIN VS. LAMA, MANTIS IN THE MONKEY'S SHADOW) and this is one of his very best. It's also worth noting that Kelly has a co-star in this film who stars in an equal number of fight scenes as the black actor himself. Dorian Tan was a Korean taekwondo champion who became a prolific kung fu star between 1973 and 1983 and he holds his own amongst the other fighters.

This film is also known as "Black Belt Jones 2." When the "North Pole Star" (not Polaris) diamond is stolen by Mr Lu's Tattoo gang. Mr Lucas (Jim Kelly) "The Black 6 Million Dollar Man" is called in to get the stone back. He has to combat many people hand to hand without his shirt against high kicking rubber soled sneakers and go to topless night clubs in Hong King.

The film was horribly dubbed. 3 stars for naked hot Asian chicks before they were en vogue.

Guide: Not much in language. FF nudity.

After one of the members of a Chinese gang steals money from the treasury he is brought back by a man named "Tung How" (Tao-Liang Tan) and physically punished on the orders of the boss, "Mr. Lu" (Sing Chen). Not long afterward that same Chinese gang steals a briefcase full of diamonds. Since the diamonds are insured the insurance company sends a man named "Mr. Lucas" (Jim Kelly) to Hong Kong in order to find those responsible and retrieve the diamonds. When he gets there he contacts a friend in the Hong Kong police force. Unfortunately, the Chinese gang finds out about Mr. Lucas and decides to do something about him. But as skilled as they are in martial arts what they don't realize is that Mr. Lucas is more than capable of taking care of himself-and he is intent on getting to the bottom of things. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that for a film that had Jim Kelly--and to a limited extent--Tao-Liang Tan and Bolo Yeung (as "Ta Niu") I honestly expected something a bit better. That's not to say that this film was bad necessarily but it wasn't particularly as good as it could have been either. That being said, I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.