New
Line Home Video | Review by Dan Taylor
The
incredible Sonny Chiba returns as Terry
Surugy, and as the trailer says, "You
don't know what mean is until you meet him!"
Unfortunately, if you've seen THE
STREETFIGHTER, you already do.
I'm not usually one to finger
filmmakers for making their sequel the exact
same movie as the original. Hell, EVIL
DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN succeeds because it
IS the same goddamn flick.
On the other hand, EVIL
DEAD 3 suffers because it deviates from
the formula we've come to know and love.
In this case, RETURN OF THE
STREETFIGHTER tries desperately to have
the same feel as the psychotically violent
original, though without the over-the-top
action and performances. The end result
is a tame copy that distances itself from
the elements that made THE STREETFIGHTER
such a crowd pleaser – Chiba's dangerous
persona and the crazed violence that emerged
from it.
Director Shigehiro Ozawa attempts
to recreate the tempo of THE STREETFIGHTER
(which he also directed), even riffing off
the original's opener by having Chiba break
into a police station to silence a potential
stool pigeon. And silence he does, as the
handcuffed killer uses two free fingers
to destroy the vocal chords of the turncoat.
However, what seems to have
been left on the cutting room floor is the
original's inventive spunk. Remember that
in that X-rated actioner the bad guys were
dispensed with groin-tearin', throat-crushin',
skull-compactin' glee. Here the fight scenes
lack originality and are only hurt by the
flashbacks (the many flashbacks)
to the original that show Chiba crackin'
heads and kickin' ass with a wanton disregard
for human life.
Critics of the original said
Chiba fought with a brute force that lacked
the elegant violence of say, Bruce Lee.
In this outing everything is toned down,
from Chiba's hair and trademark grunts to
the over-the-top violence. Hell, even the
dear, departed Ratnose has been replaced
by Kitty, a female sidekick that's just
a Mafia flunky who falls for Chiba's inexplicable
charms.
Part of the blame for this
unappealing cinematic experience must fall
on the shoulders of New Line Home Video.
While the original benefits greatly from
the widescreen treatment, RETURN suffers
mightily from its full-frame transfer. Some
scenes (especially the fights between Chiba
and Milton Ishibashi as returning foe Junjo)
are so dark that it's impossible to tell
what's going on; and many of the fights
are shot so close that they become a random
hodgepodge of arms and legs.
Though filmed in Actionscope
– whatever the HELL that is
– RETURN OF THE STREETFIGHTER pales
considerably in comparison to its violent
predecessor. One only hopes that the third
installment –THE
STREETFIGHTER'S LAST REVENGE –
returns the violence and insanity to a comparable
level.
