When Pam Grier made COFFY in 1973, it was an exciting though flawed film. The plot was gritty and satisfying--even if the acting was often amateurish. It was so successful that American International Pictures decided to rehash the formula the following year with FOXY BROWN--not a bad film but certainly almost like "COFFY II". Now, only a year later, the studio had apparently given up on creating anything new for Ms. Grier, as SHEBA, BABY was essentially the same plot from COFFY and FOXY BROWN yet again. Because the idea was so recycled and because the acting and acting are so tired and low-energy, it's really scraping the bottom of the Blaxploitation barrel.

Exactly like these other films, SHEBA, BABY begins with some local Black mobsters pressuring and eventually killing someone Pam Grier loves. In the past, it had been drug dealers and pimps, now it was mobsters trying to run all the loan companies and pawn shops out of town so they can corner the market. And, like the other films, Pam is a one-woman hit squad--dispensing justice and a good butt whoopin'. And, like the other films, there is a "cat fight" between Pam and a White lady right in front of "Mr. Big". And, like the other films, Mr. Big is a White guy pulling all the strings. And, like the other films, she is captured by Mr. Big. And, like the other films, he DOESN'T immediately kill her but gives her ample opportunity to escape (here, leaving a knife conveniently lying around). And, like the other films, she eventually gets free and kills his jive-@$$.

While this formula did seem interesting in 1973, by this film it was frankly a predictable bore. Even if you hadn't seen the other films, it still was bad because the action was so slow--the punching and kicking seemed so slow and staged. The same could be said for the gun play. In one scene, four guys with machine guns, an AR-15 and shotguns attack. Pam responds by opening fire with a .357 revolver and killing 3 of the 4 and getting the other to surrender!!! Even if she's a good shot, she was rather slow and the guys just seemed to wait until she killed them!!! Plus, even a world champion shooter or Rambo couldn't have succeeded with such one-sided odds--after all, these guys had very impressive weapons and they were already pointed at her when she "cleverly" whipped out her pistol and easily dispatched these professional hit men!! 

In addition to slow and lame action scenes compared to any other Blaxpoitation film, the movie has many logical gaps that show the writing was terrible but the studio just didn't care. In one case, her boyfriend, "Williams", knew about the yacht and Nu-tronic at the end of the film but Pam never told him--how did he know about this? In another, the cops approach a boat filled with hoods and the hood immediately open fire. However, the cops had no evidence anything was happening and the crooks began firing with little provocation. And, the crooks had .30 caliber machine guns and other amazingly powerful weapons but in many cases were killed by cops wielding snub-nosed .38s! 

The bottom line is that this is a great example of "Been there/done that....a WHOLE LOT BETTER". I love Blaxploitation films, but this one is just too dopey and slow to merit watching except by very devoted fans of the genre.

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