BLOOD FOR BLOOD (1995) **

Lorenzo Lamas stars as a ponytailed cop who works in “youth services” teaching at-risk kids Kung Fu.  Since he’s one of the few men on the force who speaks Cambodian, he gets roped into translating for some detectives on a stakeout.  Naturally, things go sour, a shootout ensues, and there are casualties on both sides.  Shortly after the bust, an unstoppable hitman (James Lew) arrives on the scene to pick off the cops involved in the stakeout one by one.  When he comes after Lamas’ family, Lorenzo digs deep inside of himself to unlock an ancient power to defeat his enemies.

Lamas gets to Kung Fu a lot of people in this and he is quite adept; gamely slinging roundhouse kicks and flashing samurai swords.  He also spends a lot of time in his underwear.  Whether lounging in bed, sweating while having nightmares, participating in sex scenes, or fighting toe to toe with Lew, Lamas’ skivvies are on screen more often than not.  Heck, they should’ve gotten their own billing.  

The cops-and-robbers stuff is very basic.  There’s probably a little too much plot as Lamas has to deal with bad guy Cambodians AND villainous Russians.  The shootouts are handled well enough by director John Weidner, but they don’t push the Blood for Blood over the top or anything.  At least James Lew is fun to watch as the assassin who uses weapons straight out of a Shaw Brothers movie.

What isn’t basic is the fact that Lamas has half-assed Jedi powers like having premonitions and being able to move sand with his mind.  Mako shows up briefly as the Yoda to Lamas’ Luke, but not long enough to make a difference.  As cool as it sounds to have Lamas playing a mystical warrior, they really don’t do much with the concept, which is disappointing.  They should’ve really tried to milk it for all its worth, but I guess they chickened out at the risk of seeming too silly (and as we all know there’s no such thing “too silly” in a Lorenzo Lamas movie).

Then again, maybe not.  I mean I can believe Lamas possesses inexplicable mental powers in this movie.  However, I just can’t believe him as a half-Cambodian.  These little oddball touches don’t necessarily make Blood for Blood better than your average Lamas flick.  (In one scene, Lamas uses what Joe Bob Briggs would describe as “Lamp Fu”.)  It does make it more memorable though.

AKA:  Midnight Man.  AKA:  Man Hunt.