The stage seems set for some blistering martial arts mayhem, and while we do get some good fights, the overall result is a let down. Pop was Jones' mentor, and together with the help of Pop’s estranged daughter Sydney ( Live and Let Die’s Gloria Hendry), herself adept in karate, he decides to take down not only Pinky and his crew, but Don Steffano's outfit as well.

When Pinky’s men accidentally kill Pop, Black Belt Jones (Kelly) steps in.

The Don exerts pressure on local drug kingpin Pinky (Malik Carter) to get the deed on the building. The only thing in his way is a tatty old building used as a karate school, owned by Pop (Scatman Crothers). property in anticipation of making a killing when a planned construction project is completed. There’s nothing wrong with the premise: mafia boss Steffano has been buying big chunks of inner city L.A. Mixing Kelly’s karate skills with an urban gangster plot seems like a no-brainer. Personally, I think he could have been up there, if not with the likes of Jim Brown, then at least with Fred Williamson and Richard Roundtree…if only someone had bothered to construct the kind of movie that played to his strengths.Ĭoming hot on the heels of Dragon, Black Belt Jones - on paper at least - seems just the ticket. Maybe he just wasn’t leading man star material. Without the burden of carrying the movie, Kelly was allowed to shine. Was it that Kelly only really worked well as part of an ensemble, a team of heroes? He, John Saxon and Lee meshed perfectly in Dragon. It’s just too bad that Hollywood couldn’t come up with a decent star vehicle for him.

It was the tail end of the blaxploitation movement and the time was rife for a badass black karate star. With his awesome Afro, lean, athletic build, urban cool and a unique and dynamic fighting style, Kelly was a standout supporting presence and it’s no surprise that Dragon producer Fred Weintraub would try to capitalize on it. When Enter the Dragon came out in 1973, it cemented Bruce Lee’s status as a superstar, of course, but it also introduced audiences to another charismatic young martial arts performer – Jim Kelly.

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