China O'Brien II (1990) Movie Review

The China O'Brien franchise began when film company Golden Harvest decided to make Cynthia Rothrock a bigger star in America. They hired director Robert Clouse and shot back-to-back the movie and its sequel. The first movie was a good addition to the action film genre, but it wasn't anything truly special. Let's see how this sequel fares. 

China (Rothrock) is doing some good work as the new Sheriff of Beaver Creek, but the quiet town gets shaken by the appearance of a drug kingpin that uses it as a hideout. So China must get back in gear and fight more criminals.

It's basically a perfect continuation of the first movie. By that I mean that it's just as clumsy and competent to the same degree as the last one, with the same kind of flaws and good moments overall. However, the fights are less dynamic, less exciting, and the drama isn't as refreshing because now we have the same generic dialogue sequences that have less of an impact because it's more of the same.

With a lot of padding, silly deviations from the main plot, crazy moments that come out of nowhere (like the striptease at the start), this sequel brings everything down a few notches by not adding a whole lot new (some sequences are so similar and so disposable that you could splice them into the first movie without much trouble, there's even a flashback that reuses some footage from the first one as filler) and offering weaker versions of scenes we already saw before.

I will say, however, that even with these flaws, you do kind of get to have a better grip on who these characters are and you also get some sweet moments of China and her friends continuing their life at Beaver Creek, which is neat. None of this saves the film overall and it's not a huge part of the movie, but the local regional charm is there.

Only really recommended for those who already love the first China O'Brien movie and want to see more of action in that vein, and even for those who are Rothrock completists. This one is average but the fact that it is a direct sequel is actually sort of remarkable in the career of Rothrock and even the one from other martial artists.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) Movie Review

Geena Davis and Renny Harlin were married, so he put her in his movies. The first one was Cutthroat Island from 1995, which was a bomb. The second film he made with her was an action thriller titled The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), which co-starred Samuel L. Jackson. Unlike Harlin's previous film, this one featured a strong script by Shane Black.

While everything seemed promising, the film ended up underperforming at the box office. Some people think the bad taste Cutthroat Island (an even bigger bomb) left on the audience was another factor as to why Long Kiss performed rather underwhelmingly. However, it gained an audience over the years and now has a cult following.

Samantha Caine (Geena Davis), a woman with amnesia, gets her life changed when she hires a private investigator (Samuel L. Jackson) in order to find out about her own past. This uncovers and brings out of the shadows her former rivals and puts her life, and her family's, in severe danger. However, Samantha slowly regains past abilities she had forgotten about that will allow her to fight for her loved ones and discover all she had wiped from her memory.

Long Kiss is a highly entertaining flick that delivers the goods and manages to engage you with it's likable characters, strong writing and constant stimulation through action. It features the witty dialogue that you would expect from Shane Black, sometimes with very unnatural results. You will also find some very quirky and slightly comedic sequences that might feel a bit odd, like when Samantha discovers some of her assassin training while cooking, which isnt a bad moment, it's actually sort of inventive.

I will say that it's more than just action, it stablishes and develops quite efficiently the conflicts and dramatic weight of the story. As with many Shane Black movies, and most of Renny Harlin movies, there are a lot of exagerated elements along with some somewhat low key ones. There's always a clash in styles. Sometimes you are watching a scene that might fit among the first two Lethal Weapon movies, and the next one you are watching a heavily stylized scene that increases it's unreality (the hallucinations, the cartoonish villains). Its a bit jarring but it also keeps things interesting.

In that vein, the action itself seems perfectly grounded in paper, but when you see it executed you see people flying around and stuff blowing up in people's faces without any real consequences. If you were to simply laid out a description of the action scenes then it makes perfect sense but Harlin wanted to turn it into something greatly exagerated and almost ridiculous. Its like Nikita (1990) by the way of Stephen Chow (maybe not THAT crazy but close to it).

Samantha is a main character that surprises you, especially at the beginning. The script gives you left turns and reveals things that you might not be expecting, from contradicting a superfitial characterization to humorous surprises just for comedy sake and Samantha a part of that, but it sort of gets turned into a very normal "assassin with no memory ofher past living a normal life now" type of premise. Could have been worse, I will say this is certainly among the top examples of such plots. She struggles constantly between her motherly sweetness and deadly killer instincts, a good conflict for her character to face against, which ends up wrapping up very nicely during the climax.

Speaking of the climax, that's a huge highlight, very reminiscent of the first two Die Hard movies but compacted into just one explosive (literally) sequence. Again, it's yet another Harlinesque spectacle that has very little realism when it comes the explosions and some physics but makes it up with very solidly constructed sequences, shot by shot, it's all perfectly timed and directed.

Completely recommended for anyone with any type of appreciation for action movies and who really enjoy smart and well made action blockbusters. I kind of get the sense that Renny Harlin is probably an unsung hero of the 90's era of female action cinema, between this and Cutthroat Island, he gave us two mainstream efforts.

Red Sonja: Holiday Special (2018) Comic Review

Here we have a very peculiar comic book Holiday Special featuring one of the toughest redheads in fantasy: Red Sonja. A one-off special from 2018 featuring two stories. Illustrated by Ricardo Jaime (Crackdown, Godslap), written by Erik Burnham (Lady Hel, several works with the TMNT, Ghostbusters and Red Sonja) and Amy Chu (Ana and the Cosmic Race and several Red Sonja issues).

Sonja travels through a snowstorm and finds an unknown cloaked woman who reminds her of a place she visited previously. She tells her the story of her time in our modern civilization, traveling throughout New York City with Max and getting a taste of Christmas, the most human celebration.

Then they find a man in a Santa costume running from mobsters, Sonja predictably takes them out without much effort, but the trio flees when the goons take out their guns. The guy in the Santa costume is finally safe and the goons lose them among the crowd at a Christmas celebration.

It's a funny story that plays with the usual "fish out of water" gags and dynamic whenever Sonja is taken out of her realm and inserted in New York City or something. Not a horrible one-off but it's also far from a highly memorable one. The resolution was done a bit too quickly and too easily but you can forgive it because of the time and space constraints. I think it's perfectly fine for Sonja fans, as it is short and sweet.

The second story isn't christmas related but it's drawn in a very retro style and looks quite wonderful, so I don't recommend you skip it, we might look at it some other time.

The Muthers (1976) Movie Review

Here we have another low budget exploitation film, this time a Phillipino production directed by Cirio H. Santiago (TNT Jackson, Firecracker, Silk, Naked Vengeance, Angelfist). Released in 1976 and starring Jeannie Bell, Rosanne Katon, Trina Parks and Jayne Kennedy. While sometimes considered a blaxploitation film it lacks the urban aspect but has some of the other requirements.

The Muthers rose to prominence soon after Quentin Tarantino called it one of his favorite films. It was also one of the films featured in the documentary Machete Maidens Unleashed (2010), about the exploitation productions of the country. It's also known for being one of the rare action pictures with black female leads. Making it a noteworthy cult film, probably more seen in recent times than ever before.

Two modern day female pirates, Kelly (Jean Bell) and Angie (Rosanne Katon) operate in the South Seas, stealing from tourists and other ships. Sandra, Kelly's sister, is captured and taken to the dangerous Monteiro Plantation, where the inmates face cruel and ruthless treatment. Now the two leading ladies have to use their crew and dangerous abilities in order to get Sandra out of that hellhole.

With super cool action sequences, a solid sense of rhythm, a captivating premise and rough yet pleasant performances The Muthers is simply a very tender and no-frills flick. The type of cinema that solves everything with a good fist fight and a shootout. In fact, by the end there's nothing but people shooting and being shot.

The main actresses look beautiful and are quite photogenic, their performances are also charismatic, giving the characters vivid personalities and they all inhabit a rich world of their own. I think the fun/funny conversations the characters have also add a lot to the experience, the plotline may be bare bones, but the sharp dialogue and the organic acting make it refreshing and enjoyable to watch.

The direction is a bit still and dry for some of it, there aren't many fancy camera tricks, framings or compositions, but it more than makes up for it with the constant action and the fast moving editing that gives the film a good rhythm. A bit basic but reliable and digestible in every way. 

The settings are rich and full of life, very solid locations that might feel a bit redundant or familiar if you have seen the Women In Prison movies Roger Corman produced. I will say, this one is a bit more heavy on the liberating action and about the same regarding their women's lib attitude.

There are also some brutal scenes that won't really put anyone away if they know that this is an exploitation film, but that might shock some viewers if they are new to this type of film. It's sleazy and crude but we can't expect any less from a grindhouse movie, it also never undermines the women in any fashion. That's a plus in the field.

Recommended for those looking for a cheap but somewhat clever action movie from the seventies. No holds barred and nothing but camp.