Return of the Cleef

Return of Sabata means a return to the character from the first movie. One again, Sabata is a gambler, going into dangerous situations with the odds stacked against him all on the chance that he'll win big. Our man loves to live dangerously. Saabaaaaaaataaaaaaaa, Sabaaaaaaaataaaaaaaaa! The fastest gun in the west!

But what's this? Sabata's wearing a frilly shirt and working in a circus?!!? Le gasp! What's going on here???

*Sigh* The plot is a bit convoluted.

Sabata joined the circus to follow a counterfeiter, figuring that he'd hit on a money-making scheme. This leads Sabata to a small but growing Texas town where he runs into fellow Confederate army soldier, Clyde (who refers to Sabata as Major).

The lieutenant here owes Sabata money and can only get his lucky medal back from Sabata after he pays him. Clyde here is our "Banjo." No quirks , just the standard team-up-then-betray-your-partner-so-you-can-run-off-will-all-the-loot schtick.

Also bumming around is Bronco (the lovable Ignazio Spalla), who loves his town and proves it by banging on a big bass drum. Don't ask.

Anyway, Sabata runs into trouble when he refuses to pay the ridiculous taxes on everything from bullets to prostitutes. All these taxes are put in place by Joe McIntock, town leader (and Irish mafia boss?) Who plans to convert all the money to gold and skip town with it.

Irishmen...gold....Must...resist urge...to make....leprechaun...joke.

GOLD! GOLD! HEHEHEEEEEEEEEE!

Ahem, moving on.

Also here to help Sabata are two acrobats, Bionda and Angel. (Psst, Angel, on the right, is played by Aldo Canti/Nick Jordan. The same guy who played Alley Cat in the first Sabata.) I believe they're pickpockets who work for Clyde, but who cares why they're there. They've got trampolines!!!

Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy.If there's gold for the stealing, Sabata's on the case! Or, y'know, expose the cankering worm of corruption eating away at the heart of this fair town. Whatever. MONEY! THAT'S WHAT WE CARE ABOUT!

If you wanna get money! If you wanna get rich! And if you wanna good life, you gotta be a sonuva...Bum ba dum ba dum bum bum!

This movie's slow going at first. There's lots of twists and turns, so you've got to pay attention. It alls fits together, but there are so many fake-outs, it's hard to know which ways up. Some people say this is a poor successor to the first movie (and, by god, they stick Cleef in a toupe! What the hell is wrong with them!), but the Cleef's still got it, in my opinion. It could have been funnier if they kept the plot simpler. But pop this sucker in, and let it wash over you. There's gold in them thar spaghetti. Get a fork and dig in!