InjunNose Review of Return of the Street Fighter

Return of the Street Fighter (1974)

Fun, ridiculous sequel that makes the first "Streetfighter" look slick

[7/10 · 10 November 2006]

This sequel to one of the most notoriously violent films in cinematic history is funnier, less gory, and more sloppily filmed than the original "The Streetfighter"...but don't worry, because it's still loaded with punches, kicks, and broken bodies. If you're a fan of this series, "Return of the Streetfighter" does not disappoint. Shinichi 'Sonny' Chiba is back as Terry Tsurugi (misspelled 'Tsugury' in the closing credits). Once again, Tsurugi accepts an assignment from the mob and, once again, his scruples get the better of him when the job requires him to kill Masaoka (Masafumi Suzuki, the virtuous karate instructor from the first film). There's something of a subplot involving a disgraced cop who helps Tsurugi and Masaoka take on the mob's seemingly endless supply of minions, but for the most part, this sequel is far more exaggerated and cartoonish than the film that preceded it. The direction, acting, and dubbing are sloppy as all hell, but that's easy to forgive in a movie like this; it's so much fun that you can't dislike it! Ratnose died in the last film, so Tsurugi's sidekick this time around is a really annoying young woman who dresses in pseudo-hippie fashion and says "cat" and "daddy-o" a lot (as it turns out, she's also working for the bad guys, but her scruples get the better of her, too). You thought Ratnose was a pain in the ass, but this chick is something else again and it's hard to muster any sympathy for her when she dies. The most enjoyable thing about "Return of the Streetfighter" is that they bring back Junjo (Milton Ishibashi, the villain from the original film) with synthetic vocal cords to replace the ones Tsurugi had ripped out! In keeping with the sequel's more cartoony feel, Junjo is not the vengeance-obsessed character he was in the original, but more like an emotionless, part-robotic supervillain. The lead baddie, a mustachioed, shaggy-haired Mafia don who looks like a fugitive from Three Dog Night or the Doobie Brothers, is the most ludicrously exaggerated Occidental villain in the history of Asian cinema. Every time he opens his mouth, it's to gripe about "the whole lousy Yellow hemisphere". Given the don's raging prejudice, you'd think his Japanese henchmen wouldn't be so eager to defend him from Tsurugi, but hey...this is a ridiculous film. What can I say? You either love this kind of movie or hate it, and I love it!