Rage and Honor II

This film would still be quite good without the martial arts, but lets face it when we have a film with Richard Norton and Cynthia Rothrock, we expect to see a good deal of fighting and that we do.

The fight scenes are very good and the story is decent. There is a twist to the plot, plenty of action all the way and good stuntwork.

An enjoyable Cynthia Rothrock film just like the first one but without the great recognizable character actors. The action is just as good and I liked the twist despite knowing that it was coming (a twist used far too often in lower budget action films). This film will be a must watch for Rothrock fans as it is typical of her style. There is a reason why she's one of the most recognizable female martial arts stars of this era. She delivers on what audiences expect and that isn't always a bad thing. This is good '90s era action film fodder. It may have been part of this cycle of films but it's entertaining from beginning to end.

Not having seen the first 'Rage and Honor', but being a fan of Richard Norton and Cynthia Rothrock, I picked up 'Rage and Honor II' from an ex-rental stand of cheap videos at a local video rental store. I must say that I was pretty impressed.

Rothrock plays Kris Fairchild, a U.S. Government agent undercover in Indonesia investigating a money laundering operation. Norton plays Preston Michaels, an ex-cop hiding out in Indonesia and running a boxing gym. After they both get a shot at beating up the same thugs, Fairchild and Michaels find themselves up against local crime syndicate lead by Buntao (Frans Tumbuan).

Naturally, as a direct-to-video martial arts movie, little attention is paid to plot, dialog, acting, etc. Don't get me wrong though, the plot seems a little TOO developed to belong in a martial arts movie, but that gets balanced out by some of the terrible dialog.

Action wise, the movie is pretty good. Norton and Rothrock give a good showcase of their butt-kicking abilities. There are some good fight scenes, and the requisite number of explosions and car chases to keep all action fans satisfied.

Richard Norton needs to be in more movies. His awesome Australian accent makes every other character sound like dorks. I'm quite impressed by the number of times he managed to use the term '****ing crazy' in this movie. I probably should have counted. Next time.

'Rage and Honor II' is a good martial arts movie, but that's all. Fans of martial arts, or action movies in general, should give it a go - 7/10

In comparison to the first "Rage and Honor", this sequel comes out on top in three ways:

1) Better-shot fight scenes

2) Exotic setting (Indonesia) and higher production values (which allow for some chases and explosions along with the martial arts)

3) A good, unexpected twist near the end

On the other hand, it lacks the colorful supporting cast of the first movie (only Patrick Muldoon stands out - the villain and his henchman are generic), and in the final fight it is obvious that Richard Norton's opponent cannot measure up to him, so there's no chance of a good fight scene.

But on the whole, I found this sequel a slight improvement on the original. (**1/2)

I've seen most of the movies on Cynthia Rothrock's filmography, and I have yet to see a movie of hers that is actually good. I will admit that this particular effort isn't as bad as some of her other films (like 24 HOURS TO MIDNIGHT), but all the same I found this movie tough to sit through at times. It is filmed entirely in Indonesia, but the locations chosen are almost all so generic that one might swear the movie was filmed in Los Angeles. Those who rent this movie with the feeling you'll get to see Rothrock kicking a lot of butt will be disappointed. Her fights aren't that spectacular (actually, *none* of the fights in the movie are exciting), and she doesn't have that many fight scenes. In fact, at times Rothrock's character seems to be an afterthought - she appears somewhat less in the movie that you might think. But the biggest fault of the movie is that it's really dull at times, fairly lifeless and unenergetic. You can safely skip this one.