"If it's games you want, I'll play." - Tarek
Two cops infiltrate an underground martial arts tournament.
Starring: Jalal Merhi, Cynthia Rothrock, Bolo Yeung, Evan Lurie, Ong Soo Han
Link to IMDB
A few years have passed since Linda and Tarek put Chong (aka the Death Dealer) behind bars for murdering people with the Tiger Claw fighting style. Linda has moved to San Fransisco while Tarek stayed in New York, but they're both still working as cops.
There's a lot of set-up in the first 30 minutes, but the main story is that Tarek is trying to catch a crime boss named Victor. When Victor helps Chong bust-out of prison and escape to San Fransisco, Tarek pursues the two men to the west coast.
Now that Linda and Tarek are in the same city they can work together to find Chong and stop whatever illegal schemes that Victor is working on.
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| Tarek Linda |
Tarek decides to go undercover and participate in the tournament in order to stop all the bad guys, but things are going to get pretty weird...
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| Chong Victor Dai Lo Fu |
What starts as a basic police drama slowly becomes a typical tournament movie, which would be fine, but things fly off the rails when fantasy elements get introduced.
Dai Lo Fu's tournament is all about him and Chong being "sacred tiger brothers" of the "black art," and now they need to combine their power to complete a ritual that will bring the past and the future into the present through a time portal!!
Say what now?
All the fantasy mumbo-jumbo feels completely random and pointless, but it entirely replaces the original plot that was going on. My guess is that they were trying to ride on the success of the recent Mortal Kombat movie by adding some mystical crap. It might be totally unnecessary, but at least it does provide plenty of two things... Laughs and fights.
The combat here is pretty good, with all sorts of martial art expertise on display, especially during the tournament when we get a variety of talented fighters jumping around. My main complaint would be that Cynthia Rothrock feels more like a sidekick, instead of being a part of the main action.
As a sequel, this movie becomes a big let down with the shift into the fanciful territory of time travel. It does remain entertaining enough, especially with all the good fight scenes and the actors hamming it up, but it's an ill conceived attempt at mysticism that does not fit with the original story.
Be sure not to miss:
- The skeleton tied to the wall in the dungeon looks so sad.
- Victor and Chong drive across the country in an old bus. It's basically the last thing a criminal would want, and looks more like a vehicle The Muppets would drive. I'm not sure if the comedy was intended but it's rather funny.
Internet review:
"A fun martial arts movie. Just don't go looking for plot." - BigGuy
Should I watch it?
It's okay, but not a very good sequel.
Where can I find it?
Here on YouTube, or better quality with vidzi.
Tiger Claws 2 gets...
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