Don't let the really cool-looking cover art for David DeCoteau's "Prey of the Jaguar" fool you - it's really not about a man who transforms into a giant humanoid cat and begins killing people. Although that concept would have been kind of cool (even better when combined with its real plot), unfortunately that's just not what we get here.No.It's simply about a retired government agent named Derek Leigh (Maxwell Caulfield) who becomes a high-kicking superhero - known only as "The Jaguar" - versed in the martial arts after his pregnant wife and young son are killed by a ruthless Los Angeles drug dealer named Damien Bandera (the late Trevor Goddard); the overall concept of "The Jaguar" is based largely upon a fantasy created by his murdered son. And while the police are not particularly supportive of Derek Leigh/The Jaguar's vigilante actions, he does find one unlikely ally in homicide detective Cody Johnson ("The Exorcist" Linda Blair), who investigated the original murders of Leigh's family.This is a fairly typical superhero-action movie romp from the mid-1990s (1996, to be exact). The movie is particularly noteworthy for its formidable cast of "B"-movie regulars, the most appealing, of course, being a post-"The Exorcist" Linda Blair - even though she's not on the screen that much and only appears in a few scenes. I guess the one really good thing to be said about this picture is that it moves through its by-the-numbers motions pretty quickly and it does appear that Maxwell Caulfield is doing the majority of his own martial arts fight sequences (which is about the most authentic thing about them in the first place).It's a really good way to kill an hour-and-a-half of an otherwise really boring weekday (or weekend) afternoon.4/10

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Pray your fast forward button doesn't jam!, November 24, 2008 I like B movies, superhero movies and revenge movies, so when I find a B movie superhero revenge flick, well that's some of the sweetest cream of all. Unfortunately though, this cinematic cream is close to turning bad. It's not curdled yet, but it's starting to chunkify. It's more like cinematic Half and Half, half good movie and half not so good. It breaks down like this; Derek Leigh is an undercover agent for the SOC, an agency so Top Secret that we never clearly learn what the acronym SOC means. He puts away the son of a huge drug lord, Bandera, and then drops into the Witness Relocation Program so that the drug lord can't get revenge on him. The movie starts 8 years later. Bandera is locked up in a Federal pen, which is remarkably short of both federal employees and prisoners. I knew something was up with this movie when Bandera steps out of his cot wearing leopard skin print underwear. I know there is a prison in the Southwest where the warden makes the prisoners wear bright pink skivvies in order to make their stay less pleasant and them, therefore, less likely to return. But I don't know what kind of prison issues leopard skin underwear and I'm not sure I want to know. Anyhow, Bandera's cartel breaks him out while the prison is transferring him to another facility. The cartel is well funded and organized and they manage to pull off the break out easily, although not without employing some inept martial arts. It was the same style martial art practiced by Gil Gerard and William Shatner and other middle-aged action heroes, a style with a name like Creaky Mantis or Winded Monkey. Luckily they were so inept they were funny. Of course Bandera ices our hero's family and although that bit of violence happens off camera, we are there when he discovers their bodies and let me tell you he emits a "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" that would put Darth Vader to shame. Bandera tries to ice Derek at his job site (He's a roofer! Thanks a lot Witness Protection Program!!!) But the metal wine flask he carries in his pocket saves Derek. "Whatever the vintage" says the cop who finds his unconscious body, this wine saved his life". That cop is played by none other than Linda Blair. I have to warn you though that this is not the sultry, pouty, "I don't care if she's possessed because I would pork the devil out of her" Linda Blair from the woman in prison movies. This is the late 90's Edie McClurg in training Linda Blair. She and her partner, a detective who looks like a statue of Dennis Franz sculpted from cottage cheese, end up trying to track Derek down once he becomes Jaguar. Now this is an interesting little angle. Derek's kid loved superheroes and he created his own little comic books. His favorite creation was Jaguar, a man who made his body and mind strong so he could fight crime. Derek patterns his crime fighting costume very closely after the costume his kid had designed, in order to honor his son. Wow, that's different, and probably the most interesting angle in the entire movie. Unfortunately the design of the costume doesn't work very well on film as Jaguar looks like one of the Village People of the Future come back through a wormhole in time. I won't spoil the rest of the movie for you except to say Jaguar's revenge involves the liberal use of explosive tipped crossbow bolts. This movie wanted to be Batman meets Out for Justice but didn't achieve that awesome synthesis because, in a word, it was half-ased. The writing, directing, acting and design were all done to a half measure. That's too bad because it had the potential to become a nice little low budget gem. Instead it's more of a zirconium. It's one of those movies that truly deserve a good remake.

Ex Special Ops government agent Derek Leigh (an excellent performance by Maxwell Caulfield) vows revenge on evil drug lord Damian Bandera (a splendidly nasty Trevor Goddard) after Bandera murders his wife and son. Leigh assumes the identity of the Jaguar, a just and heroic crime fighting superhero who's patterned after drawings by his son. Directed with surprising style and panache by veteran straight-to-video exploitation picture expert David DeCoteau, with slick, kinetic cinematography by Howard Wexler, a constant steady pace, a funky, rousing, syncopated score by Jeff Walton, a cool animated opening credits sequence, and plenty of rousing rough'n'tumble action set pieces, this flick certainly delivers the immensely entertaining B-movie goods in a pleasingly snappy and straightforward manner. Caulfield makes for a strong and likable protagonist; he receives fine support from Linda Blair as perky, sympathetic detective Cody Johnson, Tom Badal as Cody's ramrod partner Roger Reed, Paul Bartel as helpful weapons master Toymaker, John Fujioka as tough martial arts instructor Tanaka, Stacy Keach as Derek's gruff former superior the Commander, Paul Regina as uncooperative government agent Randall Bentley, Vincent Klyn as scumbag dope pusher Sonny De Pazos, and Fiona Hutchison as Derek's loving wife Karen. A fun little romp.

The picture focuses to Derek(Maxwell Caufield) is a former government Ops agent named SOC living with his family.When the starring's wife(Fiona Hutchinson) and son are cruelly killed , Derek plots revenge only to find the fugitive killer(Trevor Goddard)and hoodlums(Vincent Klyn) are well hidden and he must exact his own form of justice. Later training by a martial arts instructor(John Fujioka), he assumes the identity of The Jaguar, taken from his son's drawings .He's a new hero in town , an avenger who woos to revenge against the murderer who previously put behind bars. He asks another undercover agent as toymaker(Paul Bartel) weapons , delivering him crossbow and explosive arms.This is a low budget movie with action packed, suspense, grisly violence, noisy shooting and spectacular fighting . The best film is the training on lethal struggle skills at the hands of a martial arts master with certain similarly to ¨Karate Kid¨ style.The motion picture displays a plethora of known faces and famed secondary actors, Stacy Keach(Long riders), Linda Blair(immortal in the Exorcist), Paul Bartel (famous cult director), Vincent Klyn( usual baddie in Albert Pyun films:Cyborg), Trevor Goddard (Jag) and the protagonist, Maxwell Caufield(Dragon storm, Submerged). The motion picture is professionally directed by David DeCocteau, a B series director ,he has gone on to produce(Trancers) and direct more than sixty movies over the past twenty years, such as : Doctor Alien, Puppet master,Skeletons(his best movie) Brotherhood series, among others. This one is entertaining though with very short budget