leonardconstantin61
I've watched China O'Brien recently and i was really disappointed by how they managed the movie, by the vision of the director and the screenplay. I thought that being directed by director Robert Clouse the movie it will be really awesome but i was wrong.Richard Norton has destroyed the movie with his accent and the fights aren't that good because the opponents are really weak. The second movie has a better story in my opinion&better fights (because there are decent opponents to Cynthia&her fellas) but that's it. So if the first movie deserved 5/10, the second movie deserved 7/10 because of the two major improvements. Unfortunately Richard Norton appears in part two too. The oponents are: Billy Blanks,Toshishiro Obata,the Spanish guy(who fights only with his legs) from Jean Claude Van- Damme's Double Impact and others. So the movie is good enough if you are interested to see the beautiful Cynthia Rothrock fighting with many guys in the second part of the movie&for the villains that appears on the end of this film.This is one of her best US movie besides Guardian Angel&Fast Getaway.
Comeuppance Reviews
China (Rothrock), Matt Conroy (Norton) and Dakota (Cooke) are all back - and we're definitely happy about that, but there's a creeping suspicion that this sequel never really needed to exist. Famed director Clouse should have re-purposed the cast and settings into an all-new movie. But as it stands, it's decent enough, as China and the gang fight an evildoer named Charlie Baskin (Marks) and his goons as they try to disrupt their idyllic small town life with their crime spree. That's pretty much it for the plot. Technically, that's all that's really necessary to make a good Martial Arts movie, but this particular outing lacks intensity most of the time. Obviously the fights are the highlights of the film, and that is where everything clicks and comes together, but what surrounds it is kind of mushy, if that makes any sense.China O'Brien 2 is "country Cynthia" - as opposed to City Cops (1989), we presume. She fights overweight bumpkins named Bubba while pedal steel music plays in the background. It shows her versatility. Plus the all-acid wash outfit she wears while fighting is awesome. Keith Cooke's fighting style is quite dynamic, and he adds a lot of life to the proceedings. It's hard to believe Billy Blanks went uncredited. His pants alone are worth a credit. His zebra print Zubaz, or ZPZ's for short (you'd be surprised how often we need to abbreviate this) single him out and bring him to the forefront, so how dare they not credit him? Oh well, fans know it's him, so, it doesn't really matter in the end.Toshishiro Obata, who has had an interesting career, having been in many movies covered on this site, from Ghost Warrior (1985) to fellow Rothrock/Norton vehicle Rage and Honor (1992), among others, stands out as well as "Man With Claws", a goon who wears Wolverine/Freddy Krueger-like metal claws on his hands. There's also a baddie who dresses like Indiana Jones and even brandishes a whip. So there are a few little standout things, but China O'Brien 2 isn't really essential viewing, unless you're a fan of Rothrock, Norton, or Blanks and need to see everything they've done. It's not a bad movie at all, but the stuff in between the fight scenes is a bit lacking.
ebiros2
Same thing I've said for China O'Brien applies to China O'Brien 2. They should have hired the guy who did the choreography for "Inspector Wears Skirts" for this movie, and upped the action to that level.Made by Golden Harvest, and produced, and directed by American producer and director, China O'Brien was in the perfect spot to take advantage of best from both worlds. Unfortunately, Raymond Chow probably didn't want to put in the budget to make this into a first class movie.It could have been like "So Close" if China O'Brien character was bit more edgier, but this is a product of the '80s, so edginess was not part of movie making. She kind of looks too wholesome that takes away from her sex appeal, and also lowers the tension of the movie.The producers failed to produce Cynthia Rothrock properly. She could have done lot better in these movies.
hershiser2
As long as you go into this movie knowing that it's terrible: bad acting, bad "effects," bad story, bad... everything, then you'll love it. Though this one isn't as good/bad as its predecessor, it's definitely good for a handful of laughs. Also, the drunker you get, the better the movie gets... have some wine with the movie's cheese.