| Karate Warrior 2 (1988) |
| Directed by Fabrizio DeAngelis ( as Larry Ludman). Starring Kim Stuart , Ted Prior , Christopher Alan, Amy Baxter, and David Haynes. |
 |
| If you hated the Karate Kid movies , you'll probably get a few laughs out of this Italian rip-off. It's a cliche story about a kid called Anthony, who moves to a small town from the big smoke to find himself an outsider who is tormented by a local gang called 'The Tigers'. His first encounter with the gang is when they run him off the road , totally writing off the convertable his grandparents gave him for his birthday. Anthony ( Kim Stuart) obviously doesn't have any great acting ability, because as he stands on top of his sunken car in the swamp he is visibly almost laughing. He then finally gets into character, moaning "my grandparents are gonna kill me!" to a passer by who helps him. |
| He hitches a ride back into town with a local kid, who wouldn't pick |
| him up at first , but inexplicably lets Anthony move into his house . Anthonys freind is a real wimp , who tells him that The Tigers control the whole town. This is pretty hard to believe , since they seem to be a bunch of scrawny turkeys who get their kicks by hanging out at the local milkbar. |
| Anthony confronts the guy who ran him off the road in the milkbar , demanding that he pay for the damages . Of course the bully refuses , and after a few heated confrontations, beats the crap out of Anthony. You may be thinking to yourself " O.K. , so then he learns karate off some old japanese guy , beats the bad guys, gets the girl, and the credits roll". If that's what you think happens , then you're underestimating how inane this is. |
| Our hero is already a karate expert , but he'd rather get seven shades of shit beaten out of him than fight , because he promised his stereotypical master Kimura ( who is of course bald with a long white beard to establish that he's very wise) that he would never fight on the street even in self defence. Instead he challenges the leader of The Tigers to a sanctioned Karate bout at their high school gym. |
| While this is by no means a classic , it's a pretty fun way to spend an hour and a half. The guy that plays Anthony is a terrible actor.....in fact most of the extras in this run rings around him as far as screen presence , and acting ability are concerned. He wasn't a very sympathetic hero, and to tell you the truth, I was going for the bad guys when they were kicking his arse, because for some reason he really irritated me. |
| Anthonys freind tried valiantly to save this picture as comic relief throughout the movie , but the fact is that this was pretty damn funny as it was. What really made this enjoyable for me was Anthonys master , Kimura. He seemed to be modelled more off Yoda than Pat Morita , and even lives in a very Dagoba like swamp. He won't let Anthony use his karate on the street, but doesn't mind dishing out the violence himself. He is a strict buddhist , but gambles on Anthonys fight when he finds out that his student is paying 20/1 odds. He also chooses to sleep on the lawn instead of a bed because the bed is too soft. He was also visually funny walking around the city in traditional clothes , while passers by didn't take a second glance. |
| And finally , this movie had what every good kung fu flick needs.....a ridiculous finishing move. In this case it was the tiger fist , a punch that emits blue sparks ( not to be used in fight scenes around flammable areas). All in all , if you've run out of Bruce Lee ripoffs , but still want a martial arts film with plenty of ridiculous dialogue, this is worth checking out. It's a hell of a lot better than Rocky, or The Karate Kid , and at least it doesn't have all of that irritating 'wax on, wax off ' carry on. |
| Entertainment : 2 out of 4 |
| Watchability : 3 out of 4 |
| Overall : 2.5 out of 4 |
| Reviewed by Blake |
| If you like this , why not try : |