Paula Peril and the Serpent Cult

Really loved the action in this movie. Valerie Perez is at her best as Paula Peril. Paula's strength is her determination, intelligence and beauty. Other Paula Peril movies go into the absurd a little too much. In one she beats up 5 huge guys and a martial arts trained girl at the same time. Here her fight with rival Veronica Vilancourt is much more believable and is one of the best fight scenes with both getting shots in but one clearly dominates ending in a knockout. Paula is not some ridiculously unbelievable super heroine like in some other films. She has her intelligence and determination The plot and characters are excellent. The Paula v Veronica fight was one of my favorite female fight scenes ever.

This recent Paula Peril film was the most elaborate of her adventures. Involving several different villains and cults out to do chaos and harm. When it comes to Paula's adventures, I expect two things. One that she will always get thrown into a dangerous situation of which there seems no escape, and two, she will always find a way out, usually fighting to her last breath. This installment however seem to say that Paula can't accomplish anything without someone else interfering or rescuing her. That was disappointing. When every fight or peril gets cut short by another party it starts to become an exercise in "why care" as you know what is going to happen. This I blame on the writing and direction, not on Valerie Perez who plays Paula. She still has the ability to display both a determined heroine and a damsel in distress with great flair and beauty. There is some fun to be had with this latest installment, but it just seemed too timid, too restrained and not willing to let it's hair down and get dirty.