Watch American Ninja 2: The Confrontation For Free

Wonderful character development!

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Amiable sequel to the popular Cannon Group martial arts potboiler reunites Michael Dudikoff and Steve James as Army Rangers Armstrong and Jackson. They're recruited for a mission on a Caribbean island: find out who has been abducting various Marines. The trail leads to a nefarious drug kingpin (Gary Conway), his chief henchman (Mike Stone), and his army of genetically engineered ninjas.The genetic tampering is an amusing hook, along with a tone that heavily stresses the tongue in cheek. If one were to take this seriously, it would indeed come off as a pretty bad action flick. But there's so much silliness - especially in terms of script and performance - on display that it's hard to believe that Cannon Group ninja movie specialist Sam Firstenberg, and screenwriters Conway and James Booth, didn't intend the movie to be at least partly comedic. That makes it pretty agreeable, if also largely forgettable.Certainly one of the most entertaining elements is the chemistry between studs Dudikoff and James. The former is of course decidedly low key, the latter much more extroverted, and they do get along quite nicely. The supporting cast features a fair amount of nondescript players, but Conway (known for 'Burke's Law', 'Land of the Giants', and for being the original Teenage Frankenstein) seems to be having some fun. Michelle Botes adds some enjoyable female eye candy, in the only substantial female role, and MA expert Stone is a reasonably striking villain, complete with facial scar.Good fun overall, even if it won't be quite violent enough to suit some tastes.Six out of 10.

It's easy to see why people have such fond memories of the American Ninja series after watching this enjoyable movie.Sgt. Joe Armstrong (The Dude) and Sgt. Curtis Jackson (James) return, this time sent to a Caribbean island to find some missing Marines. What they find defies all their expectations, as the super-evil villain known as "The Lion" (Conway) is breeding a new race of genetically-modified superninjas. Now Armstrong and Jackson must fight their way through them to save the day, and shut down the nefarious operation. Can they do it? Because it takes place in a sun-drenched location, the visuals are bright and appealing. When our two heroes fight the evil ninjas, they don't need a lot of fancy tools and tricks - just, in the case of Jackson, red shorts, and Armstrong, a Body Glove wetsuit. This REAL sequel (as opposed to the miserable American Ninja 5, 1993 thankfully Cannon didn't decide to go all "30% new footage" on us) delivers the goods, as it doesn't retread the first film, but still provides all the best elements that fans want to see: cool stunts, well-timed moves, barfights, chases, blow-ups, tasteful humor, and Dudikoff's cool hair. It certainly goes in the right direction, as the alley fight sequence about 48 minutes in proves.It was the 80's, and the idea to set the movie in "paradise" (supposedly "The Lion" owns a place called "Blackbeard Island") was a natural one. You have to remember, this was at the height of party-animalism. People were cutting loose. Now add to that some out-and-out ninja fighting, and the chemistry between Dudikoff and James and you have a winner. The icing on the cake is the violence, which is brutal at times, but it's FUN brutality. The whole movie has a sense of fun to it, which is refreshing, and due in large part to the underrated Steve James. He looks like he's having a blast. James should be more well-known by the general public.While the movie is highly entertaining, the worst thing you can say about it is that it hits a bit of a slump pre-climax. It's a fairly common problem, but the sawdust-covered arena where the final battle takes place is an ideal location for the inevitable "Confrontation" we were promised in the movie's subtitle.The time flies by as you watch American Ninja 2 because it satisfies all your action needs. If you haven't already, pick it up today! For more action insanity, please visit: www.comeuppancereviews.com

OK maybe the plot wasn't that good as in the first part. But this part is more entertaining. Here is a lot more of ninja combats so the ninja fans should be left satisfied. The movie itself wasn't supposed to be very serious so it was really fun to watch it. This time Steve James get more of the show. He was really funny and his fighting scenes were really better than in the first part. This movie is full of action from the beginning to the end. Fighting scenes were more impressive than in the first part although it sometimes wasn't in a very good quality. The main bad guy ninja is played by the Mike Stone the brother of Sharon Stone who's famous for his karate skills and an affair with Elvis Presley's wife. He was also a Martial arts coordinator in the first four "American ninja" films. So if you liked the first part you will probably like this one too.

This time our two heroes from #1 are in paradise where there they fight ninjas sent by a drug-lord. Seems the drug-lord is looking to build a super ninja army and are kidnapping marines to do it. I actually watched this in theaters and I remember loving it. However years later the movie qualifies as strictly guilty pleasure. The fight sequences are better in this entry but the movie contains less goofiness and more intentional humor. That's not to say this isn't watchable, it certainly is, the production values are better but it just doesn't have as high a watchability factor as Ninja # 1. Although it's hard not to enjoy Gary Conway's villain who in the climax goes so over the top he reminded me of William Shatner. The first two American Ninja films were of Cannon's more enjoyable output.* * out of 4-(Fair)