Big Boy Bato

This is one of those wild and unhinged releases from the Regal corn factory back in the early 90s. It's a dumb, fun and over the top project by b-movie auteur Jim Goldman who in this film goes by the pseudonym "Tedmund". Goldman's movie wins a few brownie points as it doesn't take itself too seriously and knows when to crank up the cheese meter. As such, it avoids being dull and drab unlike other overly grim action drama films from this same period.

Surprisingly, among the cast of characters, it is the bad guys who turn out to be the more interesting. Bernard Bonnin and the late Dick Israel steal every scene and almost upstage the main star, Chuck Perez. Israel is especially in his element, revelling in his portrayal of Gordon, a sleazy henchman of top villain, Big Daddy (Bonnin). Gordon is always missing important drug deals because of lengthy sexventures with his nympho f-ck buddy. Big Daddy on the other hand is a classic evil crime boss who has the hots for his stepdaughter played by Cristina Gonzales.

For his part, Perez accomplished the job of playing the eponymous hero with judicious and tasteful restraint, banking on his strengths as a performer and downplaying his acting limitations. He is particularly commendable in the film's various fight and gunfight sequences, even lifting a car and using it to crush a goon (A modification of Dolph Lundgren's own stunt from Showdown In Little Tokyo). In the latter scenes, Perez tries to summon his inner thespian by attempting to act out the behavior of a junkie, resulting in a somewhat decent performance.

On the technical aspects of the film, the cinematography is pretty good; everything looks crisp and sharp. The blood effects are generous and a glory to behold; they really maxed out on the blood and never held back. The music though is sort of annoying though still tolerable; it's mostly pompous stock music lifted from several hollywood films which adds to the movie's camp quality. The stock riff serving as counterpoint to the gun fights is also kind of good. At least, there's no nauseating Mon Del Rosario type music to ruin the film's tone and vibe.

Taken as a whole, the film is basically a soap opera with an action facade. It has the same melodramatic structure as an afternoon drama for housewives but with construction workers and laborers as its target audience. In spite of this, the film still tries to come up with a few gold nuggets, specifically in the colorful dialogue which is surprisingly devoid of expletives.

In conclusion, the movie is a great form of disposable entertainment. It has no lofty ambitions or artistic pretensions, it just wants to cram as many outrageous scenes as it can on its under two hour running time. It's one of the finer examples of junk cinema.