When Lillian's (Kathy Shower) 6-year old daughter Susie is kidnapped in broad daylight by a guy in a helicopter who looks like Jesse Ventura, she calls the only people on the planet who can help: Mike Clark (Cook), a hot-headed, unlikable L.A. cop and David (Lurie), a kickfighting instructor with an eye for the ladies.Henceforth, its Meatheads Unite! as Clark and David turn the city upside down looking for Susie. Will they survive the underground punchfighting matches they have to fight in, the many baddies that come after them, and who are the mysterious men "Mr. Po" and "Sam Driftie"? and most importantly will they get along long enough to complete the mission? There is also a loose subplot about who is the father of Susie. What is this? Maury? "AK2" is not related to AK1 in any way. It is much, much sillier. Despite their unexplained bodyguards, Lillian and her new husband Howard (David Graf) don't notice a helicopter landing in their backyard until it is too late. Maybe they were both distracted by Howard's stylish shorts.All the men in AK2 look completely ridiculous. Even the butler has a funny ponytail. Take our main heroes for example. When we are first introduced to Clark, he is wearing a pink shirt and tight stonewashed jeans even as he chases a random homie. 90% of the movie Clark is wearing a blue tanktop and ill-fitting blue sweatpants.Despite one character enthusiastically claiming "he has great hair!" David's long mane is hilarious and he wears pants with a very high belt. He is shirtless so much, even Clark angrily remarks: "Put your shirt back on, pretty boy!" (Also as part of their rivalry, Clark insults David by saying "You have been drinking too much carrot juice!") The opening credits misspell "Apollo" as "Appollo", you don't offen see a misspelling in movie credits. Because of his acting ability, meatheadyness, and the fact that he is always chewing on a tooth pick, Cook is downright incoherent. On the Vidmark VHS box it lists him as "five-time world champion" but doesn't say for what. The side of the box lists the genre of this movie as "Action Kickboxing".Cook and Lurie's constant fighting is downright brain-numbing. In one sequence they are searching for a guy with a shark tattoo wearing a vest and no shirt. Of course they are.More movie highlights include: A woman answering the phone at a bookstore by saying: "Bookstore?", when nudity appears on screen, a screeching, wailing saxophone is heard, A guy bringing a bottle of cockroaches to a big brawl just to make a baddie look down, and the best warehouse guard ever.It ends with a freeze frame and the catchy tune "Fight For Power".For an incredibly goofy, silly, unintentionally zany good time, don't miss American Kickboxer 2!
... View MoreAmerican Kickboxer David(Evan Lurie), a long haired, buff, black-belt pretty boy and a LAPD cop with a foul attitude, Mike Clark(Dale "Apollo" Cook)join forces to find the kidnapped daughter of a former flame, Lillian(Kathy Shower). They will encounter an army of thugs working for Lillian's own relative, Xavier(Ted Markland)not knowing that her current husband, Howard(..the late David Graf, Tackleberry of POLICE ACADEMY fame)is actually the mastermind behind the whole ordeal.Lillian and her slimy Uncle Francis(Greg Lewis)were left her father's company fortune, a plumbing business, and Howard, the one who actually built it into a great success, wants the royalties. So Mike and David must fight off a vast number of scumbags using their martial arts skills(..and handguns at their disposal, when necessary) in order to do so.When I was a teenager, my stepfather used to rent these bad action flicks all the time, and I would sneak into his room and snatch them while he was gone to work, watching them. Most of the story-lines resembled each other and were recycled all the time. Normally you'd have a team(..a duo or trio)of cops, equipped with superior fighting skills, often engaged in hand-to-hand combat or exchanging gunfire with drug-runners or dirty, underhanded criminal lowlifes of some sort. While the criminals had automatic weapons which could fire off an endless supply of ammunition, they couldn't hit their desired targets while the heroes, with only handguns, could shoot a few bullets and down the opposition almost immediately. In physical battles the heroes could be outnumbered five to one and wipe them out with ease. Yet, no matter how ridiculous these scenarios are, I couldn't help but enjoy them. The heroes, including our duo in "American Kickboxer 2", aren't chosen for their acting abilities or skills at "emoting", but were hired for either the way they look on screen or fighting capabilities.I had forgotten about Kathy Shower, quite a looker in her heyday, often a fixture in softcore Cinemax erotica during the 90s. She is the young woman who is the center of the three main male characters in the film. The villains are basically stuntmen who walk on screen to fire their guns, getting shot on cue or receiving their customary ass whippings. Plenty of squibs are used as henchmen become bullet fodder. When you enter an early 90's movie, often an action product of the direct-to-video market, you should not expect a stirring emotional story-line or complex characterizations featuring multi-faceted performances..because you will be ultimately disappointed. Yet, if you surrender to the mind-numbing ineptitude of these derivative, oh-so familiar action plots, then maybe "American Kickboxer 2" might provide you with a bit of forgettable entertainment to waste away 90 minutes. As expected, we get the usual female throwaway dropping by to show off her breasts near the beginning of the movie, a student of martial artist David, showing how it's important to be buff, with fighting skills, if you want arm candy or to get laid. Like a great many of these low budget actioners, "American Kickboxer 2" was shot in the Phillipines.
... View MoreDale "Apollo" Cook stars as Mike a renegade cop who joins forces with a Karate instructor (Evan Lurie) to save the daughter that could be either one of them could be the father. Awful cinematography and poor acting make this one unwatchable. Besides who asked for a sequel to American Kickboxer 1?
... View MoreThis movie is one of the worst of the genere, the only actor with a hint of talent is Evan Lurie (David).The story centers around two rivals a cop, and a playboy. They are both in love with the same woman, and neither of them knows if her daughter is their child. And when the child is kidnapped they put their differences aside and join forces in the search for the kidnappers.On the whole a bad movie with, but with some good fighting scenes.I give it 2/10
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