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Such a frustrating disappointment

Good concept, poorly executed.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Admirable film.

Before watching Kill And Kill Again, the sequel to Kill Or Be Killed (which I haven't seen), I'd suffered through three productions by Edward Montoro: Day Of The Animals, Grizzly, and Mutant. Each film left me with that unpleasant feeling in the pit of my stomach that started cropping up sometime in my late twenties: the knowledge that I'm definitely going to die one day, that feeling that life is short, and the suspicion that – partially because of movies like the three aforementioned – I've all but wasted my allotted span hitherto.So it's not difficult to imagine my mindset when Kill And Kill Again's opening credits rolled, and there was Montoro's name plastered across the screen. I'd already paid good money for the thing, which represents work and arguably falls into that time-wasted category. Then again, if I watched what I was sure would be an atrocious movie, that would be another couple hours of my inevitable race to the grave spent on yet another horrendous Montoro film. Do I cut my losses now, or truly shame myself by letting Montoro fool me a fourth time? Obviously I chose to watch it. Buried beneath my existential nihilism is, in fact, an optimist. My findings? You heard it here first: Kill And Kill Again is kung-fu gold.Well, OK, silver. But for Monotoro it might as well be platinum.It's obvious he missed his calling: after watching three of the worst horrors ever shot on film, I watched Kill And Kill Again, an eighties kung-fu flick, and realized Montoro as a producer missed his calling. Don't get me wrong, 'derivative' still (as always) applies, and I can't judge whether Montoro's was intentionally satirical – maybe my modern sensibilities mistook an actually genuine attempt at a serious kung-fu movie for a tongue-in-cheek romp – but maybe, just maybe, Montoro (without a miraculous accident) actually turned out exactly the sort of film he wanted to make, and it was actually good.James Ryan stars as Steve Chase, a world-renowned martial artist who (presumably in the first film) is no stranger to getting dragged into contests of a nature that's decidedly more lethal than your average cage-match. Model/beauty-queen Anneline Kriel plays Kandy Kane – I swear this isn't a skin-flick – who drags Chase on a quest to save her father, who's been abducted by the evil genius Marduk. Together they assemble an A-Team style crew of the usual typecast-oddballs and token-whatever's, who set out to karate-chop and roundhouse-kick their way to Dr. Kane.Marduk – who's as comically villainous as you'd expect with a comic-book name like that – kidnapped Dr. Kane to work on his latest mastermind scheme for world domination. He's cooked up a potato-based obedience serum, and needs Dr. Kane to perfect it. Seriously, he's taking over the world with potatoes, and if that isn't intentional comedy I don't know what to call it. Marduk's got an entire campus full of brainwashed youths already on the drug, who he's raising as his personal karate army. Once Marduk's plan ripens (heh, get it, because potatoes?) he'll enthrall the entire world, assuming Chase, Kane and their sidekicks don't stop him.Nothing about this movie, when viewed superficially, should have been enjoyable. It's got a white South African, James Ryan, all but parodying Bruce Lee (I could never figure out whether I was supposed to believe Ryan was actually Asian). The voice-acting sounds like a racist's interpretation of Native American mannerisms. Sexism is blatant, even for an eighties movie, although I'll give Montoro this: Kandy Kane is a far more active heroine than any of his others female leads. She'd critical to the plot, in fact, and gets in a few badass moments herself.Kung-fu movies have a reputation for being cheesy and over the top; it's an inverse relationship between the realism of the kung-fu, and the awesomeness of the movie, and Kill And Kill Again wisely doesn't deviate. There's an obvious bit of realism beneath the choreography, but their ultimate goal was entertainment rather than believability. It's got everything we've all come to expect from these sorts of martial-arts movies: spinning kicks, backflipping as a valid means of daily transportation, parkour inspired wall-flips, and outright absurdism when it comes to how many (supposedly well-trained) combatants our heroes can fend off and defeat all on their lonesome.As a matter of fact, Kill And Kill Again broke new cinematic ground, which isn't something I thought I'd ever say about a Montoro production. My jaw literally dropped a couple inches when I saw it. You'll recall the slow-mo spinning-bullet shots in The Matrix, I'm sure; turns out KAKA was the very first instance of that now iconic shot. Even more impressively, they accomplished it all without the modern technology The Matrix and other imitators relied on. A dolly, a camera, some plexiglass and clever lighting were basically all they used for the setup.Innovation? Montoro? My core beliefs are thoroughly shaken.Kill And Kill Again is, slow-mo bullet sequence aside, nothing new. It isn't plowing deep into fresh narrative territory; the minimal character development isn't masking any biting social commentary; the cinematography's impressive, but it's an action movie, so I expect nothing less.But it's fun. It's enjoyable. You can laugh at the over-the-top kung-fu (or karate, whatever it's supposed be). You can dig the eighties nostalgia which is ultimately the genre's hallmark. You can turn your brain off, kick back, and prepare to be entertained with the comfortable knowledge that Kill And Kill Again won't require an iota of your upper-level cognitive function to fully enjoy what it has to offer.And, like me, you can say you finally watched an enjoyable Montoro film.

Ace martial artist Steve Chase (a solid and charismatic performance by James Ryan) rounds up a crack team of rough'n'ready karate experts in order to rescue scientist Dr. Horatio Kane (John Ramsbottom) from the clutches of evil billionaire Marduk (broadly played by Michael Mayer, who sports an uproariously obvious fake beard).Director Ivan Hall, working from a blithely silly script by John Crowther, keeps the entertaining story moving along at a snappy pace, maintains an engaging lighthearted tone throughout, stages the lively chopsocky fights with rip-roaring flair (a rowdy barroom brawl rates as a definite rousing highlight), and tops everything off with amusing touches of campy humor. The neat array of colorful characters adds considerably to this picture's infectiously kitschy appeal: Anneline Kriel provides delicious eye candy as foxy blonde babe Kandy Kane, Ken Gampu cuts an imposing figure as amiable behemoth Gorilla, Marloe Scott Wilson almost steals the whole show with her gut-busting portrayal of Marduk's sassy pink-haired main hench wench Minerva, Bill Flynn supplies affable comic relief as lovable slob Hotdog, Stan Schmidt spouts a lot of mystical mumbo jumbo hogwash as the enigmatic The Fly (he levitates and scales high-rise building with no difficulty whatsoever), Norman Robinson contributes a likable turn as hillbilly bruiser Gypsy Billy, and Eddie Dorie makes for a suitably menacing flunky as hulking brute Optimus. The funky-pulsating score hits the get-down groovy spot. A really fun flick.

I can't believe I watched this entire movie, but I just couldn't stop! The main bad guy has a terrible fake beard, who has kidnapped a doctor that created a chemical from potatoes (?!) that hypnotizes people to be slaves. There's a chick with fire-engine red dyed hair. The plot seems to have been written by a 3-year-old. The 'funny' parts are just plain painful. Guys float somehow by using martial arts techniques. This reminded me of an A-Team episode on stupid pills. Although, this movie was made by morons, it was entertaining. So what does that make me? Watch out for the evil potato!

This film is on the borderline of being so bad that it is almost worth watching, if only just to laugh at it. It attempts to be a comedy with many one-liners that fall completely flat. The martial arts choreography is stiff and extremely staged looking. The story is just plain ridiculous. The star shows some potential given the right material, but there is very little of that for him to work with. A handful of skillfully executed karate techniques are about the only thing this film has going for it.