Bloodfist II

Don "The Dragon" Wilson returns as Jake Raye a kickboxer who is forced out of retirement to face altered warriors in this Enter The Dragon knock off. Bloodfist II maybe a definite improvement over it's awful predecessor, but it still isn't all that good, however some decent fightscenes as well as a fast pace makes this less painful. Don "The Dragon" Wilson may be the only martial arts action star to date that has killed the same bad guy twice, while playing the same character.

BLOODFIST II is a shambolic production: clearly made on the ultra-cheap, consisting of non-actors who couldn't look more wooden if they tried, with a threadbare story that shamelessly rips off ENTER THE DRAGON at every opportunity from the island tournament to the chunky henchmen and urbane criminal overlord. And yet it's still ten times better than the truly execrable BLOODFIST, which remains one of the worst films I've ever watched.

The reason this sequel is better is purely because it has more action – and a lot more action, at that. In fact, there's a fight scene regular as clockwork every five minutes or so, and sometimes even more frequently. Sadly, the fights aren't up to much; the choreography is about as boring as it could be, and the opponents display no discernible talent, merely running towards the hero and falling down when they get kicked in the face. But at least there's stuff happening, unlike in the first movie.

Sadly, the numerous faults are still too major to make this even remotely resemble anything approaching a good movie. Don "The Dragon" Wilson is a humourless and extraordinarily wooden leading man, my least favourite of all the martial arts stars, and he goes through the motions here. The supporting cast are even worse and some of the performances are downright appalling. The plot is dull and tired and far too simplistic, and in the end this is nothing more than moving wallpaper, or a film version of the old side-scrolling beat 'em ups where exchangeable thugs are mown down by a one-dimensional hero character.

Don "The Dragon" Wilson is back as Jake Raye. But, before you question why you should watch this film and I am not actually suggesting that you do, I first must say it is way better than the original. While certainly not amazing better fight scenes, better production values and even the love interest for Don, here played by Rina Reyes is much better. She is a deeper character and she can kick some ass, too.

Right out of the chute we see Jake has killed someone in the ring. He has decided to quit kickboxing altogether. But, Jake is racing back to Manila to help out his friend Vinny (Maurice Smith). Only to find out he is involved with mega baddie Su (Joe Mari Avellena) who is wanting to run a gladiator-styled fighting tournament on his private island (sounds like ENTER THE DRAGON) and using new steroids he is developing.

While it is better than the original still does not get a passing grade because the acting still is the pits and low-grade fight scenes.

Once again Don Wilson has retired from kickboxing. This time it's because he's killed a man in the ring. So instead he teaches others how to do this stuff, until he's lured to an island run by Joe Mari Avellana, who has a mysterious young woman, Rina Reyes running around. It seems that Avellana's scientists have synthesized a steroid that will make anyone a killing machine and then quickly vanish from the blood. This way they can cheat undetectably at the private kickboxing tournaments he holds on his own private island. Then they kill the losers.

The camerawork has improved a bit from the first in the series. The crowd direction remains awful.

My review was written in February 1991 after watching the film on MGM/UA video cassette.

Second of three Don Wislon martial arts vehicles made for Roger Corman, this perfunctory exercise did not perform as well as the original at the box office. "Bloodfist II" is an MGM/UA video release.

Known as the Dragon, Wilson is a diminutive high-kicker who has the titles and expertise to whip any action movie superstar from Schwarzenegger to Van Damme in a fair fight. However, his acting is stilted and screen presence nil, making his films strictly for the purists.

In fact, both films have opening credits listing only the male cast members with the unusual designation of all their kickboxing and karate titles on screen. That's about as interesting as these features get.

This time, Wilson is called out of bed (with a pretty, nude woman beside him) to fly to the Philippines and search for a missing buddy. There he's befriended by another beauty (Rina Reyes) who gets him shanghaied to participate in a gladiatorial contest run by evil Joe mari Avellana.

The fight footage, some of it staged in a steel cage, looks about as real as wrestling and the cast is woefully short on character actors. Wilson's next film co-stars Richard Roundtree, so some attention has been paid to this failing.

Cornball script has Reyes switching sides and helping Wilson out by the later reels, while he has to fight the big match to the death against the friend he's been seeking. Climax is diluted by Wilson taking time out during the match to give an antidrug lecture.

Tech credits are meager, including phony sounding crowd murmuring dubbed in during the fight sequences.