China O'Brien 2

This time China O'Brien has trouble with a dealer who puts a prize on her head because she had spoiled an important drug deal of his. But all the world's criminals will not be enough to ... She's back... and deadlier than ever.

A bit slow to get moving due to the set up, but at around the third act the sequel of China O'Brien gets moving with some spinning kicks which our trio ( Rothrock, Norton and Cooke) hand out with unrestrained relish. It's not as good the first film, the story not as engaging, however it's a joy to see some straightforward martial arts, blocks, strikes and locks. I especially am impressed by Keith Cooke, who clad in leather jacket, channels Bruce Lee but with more leg action. Boy is he nimble and fast. Pity he didn't have a film career of his own, he got the moves. All in all, China O'Brien is a standard yet satisfying sequel.

Same thing I've said for China O'Brien applies to China O'Brien 2. They should have hired the guy who did the choreography for "Inspector Wears Skirts" for this movie, and upped the action to that level.

Made by Golden Harvest, and produced, and directed by American producer and director, China O'Brien was in the perfect spot to take advantage of best from both worlds. Unfortunately, Raymond Chow probably didn't want to put in the budget to make this into a first class movie.

It could have been like "So Close" if China O'Brien character was bit more edgier, but this is a product of the '80s, so edginess was not part of movie making. She kind of looks too wholesome that takes away from her sex appeal, and also lowers the tension of the movie.

The producers failed to produce Cynthia Rothrock properly. She could have done lot better in these movies.

Just having sat through the 1990 movie "China O'Brien" and been positively surprised and entertained by it, I opted to carry on and watch the 1990 sequel "China O'Brien II". And just like the predecessor, it was a movie that I had never seen before, given my lack of interest in Cynthia Rothrock in general.

Writers Robert Clouse, Craig Clyde and James Hennessy put together a script and storyline that wasn't as entertaining as the predecessor. Sure, it was a watchable movie, but the narrative was a bit all over the place, and there wasn't really a properly cohesive red thread throughout the course of the movie, making it feel rather erratic and random.

It was good to have the three leads from the first movie return to reprise their characters and roles in the movie. And the acting performances in the movie were fair.

"China O'Brien II" was held afloat by the action and martial arts sequences throughout the course of the 92 minutes that the movie ran for.

This sequel, from director Robert Clouse, was disappointing in comparison to the predecessor.

My rating of "China O'Brien II" lands on a five out of ten stars.

China O'Brien (1991) was immediately went into production after the first film. The first on was enjoyable and it was a hoot to see Cynthia Rothrock kick major butt in an English language film. But the sequel was not as good and it's more of the same for Clouse and Company. Robert Clouse at this point in his career was riding high on the success of his greatest film Enter the Dragon. Ever since that film, he's been trying to duplicate the same formula. But like they always say, lightning never strikes twice and Clouse has been trying to recapture the magic.

Rothrock is a phenomenal fighter and performer. This is her show and her fight scenes are a sight to behold. Sadly the rest of the film isn't as fun, the direction plods along and the script is nothing to brag about.

For Rothrock fans only.

Its one of those movies that entices you in with the poster but after watching you realise you were duped! The poster gives the impression that Cynthia has a one on one showdown with a dangerous male martial arts expert opponent. However she is actually up against a late middle aged to elderly escaped convict wearing women's jeans and what appear to be women's boots?

In the follow up to China 1, a dangerous convict has escaped and is heading to confront an ex gang member who has made off with 5 million bucks, in the town Cynthia is now the Sheriff of. This is a slightly more convoluted plot than the average revenge movie, but its the usual "find reasons to kick men" fare. The first movie must have been a success for there to be a follow up, however this really plays out like an episode of Walker Texas Ranger. Why are so many of these movies filmed in the middle of nowhere? Cheap option?

This is really on a par with the first movie, it has most of the same leads, including the Dakota character who simply looks for opportunities to karate people for the slightest reason, but is meant to be a deputy. There are the obvious goofs to be seen during the action, men in wigs standing in for Cynthia when the stunts required too much upper body strength. There is an Oddjob type character who seems to have stolen the claws from the set of Enter The Dragon and some odd choices in death scenes. The strangest one being a woman who is shot that we never see getting shot.

This is average at best Rothrock so if that's your thing this is for you.

I noticed that she is back working, however I am not sure how successful she will be, based on her age and even the male action stars are struggling these days. I do wish her all the best however.