There’s trouble in the African nation of Tigora. The kind and wise King Jabolni (Clifton Jones) has been assassinated, and his younger brother, former football player Prince Otwani (Trevor Thomas), has been elevated to the throne. With his brother’s former fiancée (France Zobda), Otwani is planning to sell out the Zambouli Tribe because their land sits on a very valuable titanium deposit. Having framed the Zambouli Shaman (Princess Elizabeth of Tooro, a former Ugandan government official who barely escaped from Idi Amin), Otwani hires a group of mercenaries to wipe out the Zambouli people. Sheena (Tanya Roberts), a white woman who was raised by the Shaman after the death of her parents, stands in the way of Otwani’s evil plans. Working with both the animals who obey her commands and also with reporter Vic Casey (Ted Wass), a former teammate of Otwani’s, Sheena protects her people and her land.
After several failed attempts, this film brought to the screen Sheena, a comic book heroine who was first introduced in 1938. Tanya Roberts was selected over contenders like Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Ladd, and Bo Derek, and it must be said that she’s not bad in the role. No one is going to mistake her for a classically trained actress, but she was enthusiastic, athletic, and beautiful. She also didn’t have much chemistry with Ted Wass, which made their scenes feel awkward and dull. If the film had just been Sheena and her animal friends fighting the mercenaries, it probably would have been a lot better, but instead, the movie seemed to think that we needed to be introduced to Sheena through Vic’s eyes. Obviously, I disagree. Everyone already knew who Tarzan was, so I don’t think they would have had a hard time recognizing a female version.
Sheena still has its moments. I really liked the idea of the villain being a rich kid who left his country to play football in America and then returned to overthrow the government. We don’t see many villains like that. The main problem with the movie is that it feels really long. Director John Guillermin was an old-fashioned director who specialized in epics, and he lets too many scenes drag out. With more energetic direction and a stronger romantic lead, Sheena could have been a B-movie classic.
