Red Scorpion 2

I found RED SCORPION to be a mildly entertaining action flick with a few good fight scenes, but nothing more. Then a couple days after I saw the first RED SCORPION, I saw RED SCORPION 2 on cable. To my surprise, RED SCORPION 2 was a lot better than the first. The action scenes were better, the acting was an improvement over the acting the first film [though it still wasn't very good], and the movie was actually clever. What I also like about it was you wouldn't have to see the first RED SCORPION to understand this one. I think that should be true with all sequels.

This time Matt McColm leads a band of commandos against white supremacists who shoot up Christian night clubs (After they separate and target the minorities) as well as bunch of other stuff in this unrelated sequel. I must admit I was no fan of the first film, (You can read my review of it, if you click my name.) but certainly it deserved a better follow up than this? Who is this Matt McColm anyway? How bad can a movie be that even Dolph Lundgren wants no part of. (And I like Dolph Lundgren) The only thing that makes this thing so fun is just how ludicrous and stupid it is. John Savage gives a performance of such awful Z-grade quality that I was tempted to give this a higher rating. Savage is so hammy he could be a subway commercial. Also the sequences involving the slaughter of various minorities, or the liberal journalist and so on is so overwrought that it will make even the most soft hearted liberal laugh. Plus Jennifer Rubin has a hard time either keeping her clothes on, or staying untied. Red Scorpion 2 is just that type of film.

* out of 4-(Bad)

As a fan of the great Jennifer Rubin I watched this odd action movie late at night. Well, it's really just another one of those silly action movies maybe especially aimed at a certain (American) audience. Jennifer is wasted and the only really talented actor in this movie.

This movie is so very bad... The first Red Scorpion wasn't exactly A list material, but this is bad... I can't stress that enough. At least the original had Dolph, this one has nothing worthy.

I personally don't like stupid action movies. You know the kind - the bad guys are firing AK-47's from an enclosed building and one of the main characters rolls on the ground over and over taking them out with a handgun never getting hit. That's the definition of a stupid action movie and Red Scorpion 2 fits that description to a tee. Now of course I believe in order to enjoy action films you must put your mind on hold and you're willing to forget certain aspects of logic in pursuit of entertainment, but Red Scorpion 2 goes way overboard.

The movie also carries that obligatory training scene like many action films do, but I don't care how many hours of mercenary training you have you can't jump bullets and have 100% accuracy with firearms. It just gets so tiring to watch a puny runt take out men armed to the bone with a few shots of his gun while they spray thousands of rounds of ammunition at him and somehow defying laws of physics seem to constantly miss. Red Scorpion 2 is a shining example of how not to make a good action movie. It's got no story, the characters are devoid of life and there's no real action.

At last! A movie for US, where the bad guys are neo nazis and the good guys get trained by a commie! SEE skinheads get mown down! SEE the fuhrer-like character get incinerated! SEE teamwork and comradeship work more efficiently than rugged individualism! ALL POWER TO THE RED SCORPION COLLECTIVE!