BLACKBELT 2: FATAL FORCE (1993) *** ½

Blackbelt 2:  Fatal Force is an unrelated sequel to the 1992 Don “The Dragon” Wilson flick, Blackbelt.  Although it has nothing to do with that movie, at least it continues the tradition of listing the star’s blackbelt credentials in front of his name in the opening credits.  In this case, “W.K.F. Kickboxing Champion Blake Bahner”.  Whether or not he really held that title or if the “W.K.F.” actually exists is up for debate.

Whatever his credentials are, I kind of like this Bahner guy.  He sorta resembles Marshall Teague auditioning for The Lou Ferrigno Story.  If you need someone to fill Don the Dragon’s shoes, it might as well be him.

The movie begins with a Nam flashback before switching over to the present day.  It’s here where we are introduced to our hero, the awesomely named “Brad Spyder” (Bahner).  His first action sequence had me pumping my fist and saying, “YES!” out loud twice.  The first time was when he was chasing a bad guy on his motorcycle and narrowly avoided colliding with a tractor trailer via the magic of editing.  The second time came when he dropkicked a baddie off a high rise. 

Later, Spyder learns that his partner fled Los Angeles and went to Honolulu when he received word his MIA POW brother has turned up in Hawaii.  Naturally, he winds up DOA, and Spyder has to go to Hawaii ASAP to avenge his death PDQ.  There, he tangles with some drug runners who have their claws in a local wealthy businessman. 

Oh, there was a third time I pumped my fist and said, “YES!”  That was when Vic Diaz showed up as the Yelling Captain who is displeased that Spyder is sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.  I knew this movie was going to be great when I saw Cirio H. Santiago’s name in the credits. 

Blackbelt 2 is choppy as hell.  There are scenes set in Vietnam, scenes set in Hawaii, and scenes set in Hawaii that are made up to look like Vietnam.  We also get some footage from Santiago’s Silk in there to pad out the running time.  It’s as if producer Roger Corman pulled a Godfrey Ho and gave us two movies for the price of one.  That is to say, it’s awesome.

Not only that, but it features one of the greatest exploding bamboo guard tower scenes of all time.  In most of these movies, when a bamboo guard tower explodes, it explodes and that’s that.  In Blackbelt 2, when the bamboo guard tower explodes, the guard’s flaming corpse lands smack dab on a table where the other guards are playing cards.  Is this flick great, or what?

Sure, Blackbelt 2:  Fatal Force is patchy and disjointed, but it’s a lot of fun.  Whenever the sketchy editing threatens to get in the way of the film’s momentum, Bahner kicks a lot of people in the face to keep things on track.   Although it begins to spin its wheels in the late stages of the game, I can’t be disappointed since it ends in a scene where a grieving father flies a helicopter directly into the man who killed his daughter, causing it to explode.

I must confess.  I may have pumped my fist and said, “YES!” a fourth time during this scene.