C.I.A. 2: TARGET: ALEXA (1994) ** ½

I remember very little about C.I.A. Code Name:  Alexa other than it starred Lorenzo Lamas, his wife Kathleen Kinmont, and… uh… O.J. Simpson.  Fortunately for us, the Juice didn’t return for this second installment of the two-picture franchise.  Some more good news:  In addition to starring in this flick, Lamas also directed!  (It was a family affair all around as Kinmont co-wrote the story.)  

Terrorists are out to steal nuclear codes and hold the world at ransom.  Naturally, the only man who can stop them is Graver (Lamas).  Well, he also needs a woman to stop them too, so he turns to his former flame Alexa (Kinmont) to help take them down.  Little does Graver know the terrorist leader Kluge (John Savage) is also Alexa’s baby daddy, which could mean trouble for both sides.  Things get complicated when a rival terrorist faction led by Straker (John Saint Ryan) steals the chip necessary to launch the nukes and Graver must make an uneasy alliance with Kluge to save the world.  

I’ve seen many reviews kind of dis C.I.A. 2:  Target Alexa, or at the very least rank it lower than the original.  I don’t know what movie they saw.  The one I saw features Lorenzo Lamas killing a man with a forklift in the first ten minutes.  That scene alone puts it slightly above the first one in my book.    

Kinmont is quite credible in her action sequences.  She gets the requisite scene where she foils a convenient store robbery, as well as a decent fight where she takes on all of Savage’s henchman.  Too bad her one-on-one brawl with the musclebound Lori Fetrick (AKA:  “Ice” from American Gladiators) gets cut short.

Lamas doesn’t do a bad job directing the action, although some moments just flat-out do not work.  (Like his last-minute escape via hang glider.)  There’s also a love scene between Kinmont and Savage, which I’m sure was awkward for Lorenzo to direct.   (Making things even more awkward was the fact that his producer, Richard Pepin was also the director of photography.)  This was the only feature Lorenzo directed (he also helmed several episodes of his TV show, Renegade), which is a shame because he showed a glimmer of promise behind the camera.

Lamas and Kinmont are fun to watch together and some of their banter is good for a laugh.  The funniest thing though is the fact that Lamas’ long flowing hair is usually more elegantly styled than hers.  John Savage is pretty good slumming as the villain too.  We also get bits from Magnum P.I.’s Larry Manetti (who plays a slimy lawyer) and Branscombe Richard (as a party guest). 

One distinctly Lamas directorial touch:  The long scene that showcases his real-life helicopter pilot skills.  Sadly, Lorenzo has given up acting in action movies to fly helicopters full time.  All I can say is, come back Lorenzo, we miss you. 

AKA:  C.I.A. Codename:  Viper.  AKA:  C.I.A. 2:  Code Name:  Alexa.