Well, following up on the 1988 classic "Bloodsport" movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme certainly was no small feat. And oddly enough, I actually never gotten around to watching this 1996 sequel before now in 2023. Sure, I knew about its existence, but I just never bothered to watch it as it didn't star Van Damme.
But since I had the opportunity to actually sit down and watch it here in 2023, I opted to give the movie the benefit of the doubt and actually take the time to watch it and give it a chance.
The storyline in the movie, as written by Jeff Schechter, was somewhat of a mixed bag of nuts. There were new elements to the storyline and new characters, but at the same time it was a heap of amazingly lazy writing as Jeff Schechter just cashed in on everything right from the 1988 movie. I mean, the character was a clone of Frank Dux (played by Jean-Claude Van Damme) and even the main 'villain', known as Demon, was a watered-down clone of the Chong Li (played by Bolo Yeung).
It was, however, nice to see actor Donald Gibb return to reprise his role as Ray 'Tiny' Jackson. Aside from Donald Gibb, then the movie also had the likes of Pat Morita, James Hong and Philip Tan on the cast list. I have to say that Daniel Bernhardt actually carried the movie quite nicely, but it was just too much of a clone of Frank Dux to be overly interesting, even down to the mannerisms and facial expressions.
Now, if you haven't watched the 1988 "Bloodsport" movie, then the 1996 "Bloodsport 2" movie actually is a good movie. But in light of having seen the first movie several times and being a fan of it, then I have to say that directors Alan Mehrez and Philip Tan just didn't really deliver much of anything grand or new here. It was just playing it safe by riding on the success of the previous movie from 8 years earlier.
There is enough fighting and martial arts in the movie to make you forget about the copy-paste job that writer Jeff Schechter did here. And truth be told, it is the fighting that keep the movie watchable.
Despite of all of its shortcomings, then "Bloodsport 2" proved to be adequate entertainment, if you just forget about the 1988 movie "Bloodsport". My rating of "Bloodsport 2" lands on a six out of ten stars.
But since I had the opportunity to actually sit down and watch it here in 2023, I opted to give the movie the benefit of the doubt and actually take the time to watch it and give it a chance.
The storyline in the movie, as written by Jeff Schechter, was somewhat of a mixed bag of nuts. There were new elements to the storyline and new characters, but at the same time it was a heap of amazingly lazy writing as Jeff Schechter just cashed in on everything right from the 1988 movie. I mean, the character was a clone of Frank Dux (played by Jean-Claude Van Damme) and even the main 'villain', known as Demon, was a watered-down clone of the Chong Li (played by Bolo Yeung).
It was, however, nice to see actor Donald Gibb return to reprise his role as Ray 'Tiny' Jackson. Aside from Donald Gibb, then the movie also had the likes of Pat Morita, James Hong and Philip Tan on the cast list. I have to say that Daniel Bernhardt actually carried the movie quite nicely, but it was just too much of a clone of Frank Dux to be overly interesting, even down to the mannerisms and facial expressions.
Now, if you haven't watched the 1988 "Bloodsport" movie, then the 1996 "Bloodsport 2" movie actually is a good movie. But in light of having seen the first movie several times and being a fan of it, then I have to say that directors Alan Mehrez and Philip Tan just didn't really deliver much of anything grand or new here. It was just playing it safe by riding on the success of the previous movie from 8 years earlier.
There is enough fighting and martial arts in the movie to make you forget about the copy-paste job that writer Jeff Schechter did here. And truth be told, it is the fighting that keep the movie watchable.
Despite of all of its shortcomings, then "Bloodsport 2" proved to be adequate entertainment, if you just forget about the 1988 movie "Bloodsport". My rating of "Bloodsport 2" lands on a six out of ten stars.