FlashCallahan
It's 25 years later, and after Jennifer is brutally killed, Detective Frank Washington is forced to team up with his long estranged partner Joe Marshall.It seems that an old enemy has resurfaced, and they have to solve a series of assassinations being committed by a secret group of female vigilante killers......When I saw the first Samurai Cop, I was dazzled by just how entertainingly bad the film was. It was a marvel of cinematic exploitative trash, it took me back to the early nineties, and I loved every minute of it.I never read anything about the sequel, I was under the impression that it was a rushed released film to cash in on the cult status that SC1 was bound to gain, much in the vein of King Of The Kickboxers, of Eye Of The Eagle.I had no idea that it was literally made last year, and most of the cast had come back from beyond obscurity.It's no surprise that it doesn't live up to the 'so bad it's good' label that SC1 has, but for sheer nostalgia value, it's good fun while it lasts.The writers know that what made SC1 so popular was the poor editing, the bad action, and the unintentional cheesiness the whole film had. So it's pretty impossible to recreate that 'magic', so they go for broke and decide to make the whole thing as bonkers as they can.And for the most part it works, having Frank have some weird, drug induced dreams that appear to have him being in a TV show is quite leftfield, but we've seen it before in Natural Born Killers and Crank 2. And Joe breaking the fourth wall makes the viewer smile, but only because I brings back memories of SC1.And this is the films fundamental problem, we've seen it all before, and no matter how many of the original cast you can bring back from obscurity, or having the stunt casting of Tommy Wiseau as the main villain, you are just yearning for the for SC1.And what makes SC1 so unique is that it was made in a time where on screen sexism, gratuitous violence, and sheer awful acting was accepted. It wasn't trying to be meta, hip, or clever, it was aimed for people who just wanted to see people kick ten bells out of somebody else, and not having to worry about following a narrative, because every one of these films followed the same rules: Introduction, Fight, Loss, Revenge, Get The Girl.......Fin.So in the 25 years that have passed, the film, and pretty much the cast have been lost in translation. The film isn't going to win any new fans, because it tries to hard to be something it isn't, and for people who haven't seen the original for sometime, it may be a crushing disappointment.My advice, see the original first, and then this straight after.After the shock of seeing Frank go from Fabio to Skeletor, you may appreciate it more than you should.
deadkansasfilm
As a big time fan of cult films, the original Samurai Cop ranks right up there with The Room, Troll 2, and Birdemic. Kudos to the filmmakers and actors to bring (most) everyone who was originally involved with the first film back for a sequel. Overall, they did a good job of keeping the tone of the original film, as well as bringing in a modern look. Matt Hannon and Mark Frazer did an excellent job as the leads. Fun to watch Tommy Wiseau as the villain. Also good to see Mel Novak back in the game again. If you haven't seen the first film, you may not get all of the inside jokes. In fact, at times, there is a lot going on. You may even want to watch this several times to catch everything.
