The Action/Adventure Section — A regular column that will exclusively highlight and review action movies. The most likely suspects? Action cinema of the 1970s and 1980s. But no era will be spurned. As the column grows, the intent will be to re-capture the whimsy of perusing the aisles of your local video store with only ragingly kick ass cover art to aide you in your quest for sweaty action glory. Here we will celebrate the beefy. This is a safe place where we still believe that one lone hero can save humanity by sheer force of will and generous steroid usage.
Taglines:
– The ultimate American fighting machine is back!
– They thought they had the perfect drug ring… Joe Armstrong made them think again.
American Ninja 2 improves on its predecessor in every way and is a flat out American treasure.
The first film, while a beloved mainstay of my childhood which is as Ninja as it is American, ended up being a less than glorious revisit in my adulthood. You can read all of my thoughts on that film in this earlier entry of the Action/Adventure Section. While all my childhood memories of the film came rushing back as I let it wash over me like so many waves of hurtling throwing stars, I couldn’t keep the facts at bay. American Ninja isn’t a very good movie. Male model Michael Dudikoff mugs silently for the camera doing his best James Dean impression as Joe Armstrong, the titular ninja from the USA. He’s hobbled in his quest for badassery by a weak romantic subplot that takes up a surprising amount of screen time, and gets shown up in every way by apparent “sidekick” Curtis Jackson (Steve James), who has more charisma and muscles than anyone else in front of the camera, but who is unfortunately relegated to the best friend role because he isn’t technically a ninja so much as an Army combat trainer. There’s also a bunch of amnesia stuff going on in that film, which just further pushes actual action sequences to the margins in order to make a white ninja feel more authentic (it doesn’t work). I’ll always love American Ninja, though, and part of me will always believe that those various ninja gang signs that Joe’s master taught him would impart some secret powers on me if I could just get them right.
But for as many times as I saw American Ninja growing up, I somehow never saw fit to indulge in any of the sequels. Big mistake. And one that I’m going to make right before your very eyes here in the Action/Adventure Section.
A virtually non-stop action sequence with enough testosterone, idiocy, steel drums, and persistence of vision to satisfy any 80s action aficionado, American Ninja 2: The Confrontation follows the ongoing adventures of Joe Armstrong and Curtis Jackson (Steve James), who are theoretically Army Rangers, but who end up assigned to a Marine base that is conveniently located on some anonymous paradisiacal island run by yet another white suited drug lord (this time named “The Lion”).
The film continues in several important traditions established in the first film, such as: Almost actively avoiding there being any actual Japanese people in the film, as well as taking place in a tropical island setting that is not in any way Japan. This is called American Ninja, after all, and Americans are nothing if not literal. Also carried over from the first film are tropes such as the aforementioned white-suited villain, a master villain ninja who proves to be Armstrong’s greatest obstacle, and the most important of all: a climactic compound siege battle.
Yes, I do realize that I just described the climax of virtually every action movie of the 1980s. If that is any kind of problem, you let me know.
But it is where the film differs from American Ninja that it truly shines. And let me tell you: this movie shines brighter than Coldplay lyrics. Filled to the brim with swim-suited man flesh, motorcycles, chase scenes, costumes Ninjas doing menial labor, and enormous battles, about the only thing the first film offers which this one doesn’t “turn up to eleven” is the surprise laser the first film’s villainous Black Star Ninja busts out at one point.
I’m happy to report that Michael Dudikoff turns in a far more dynamic performance in this film. Which, granted, it would be hard not to. But he feels more comfortable in his skin and appears to take ownership of the lead role, even stepping up his presence on screen during actual fight sequences. Sure, throughout the film you can see the choreography of the fights happening right before your eyes as slowed down kicks and punches and looks of anticipation appear on everyone’s faces… but at least Dudikoff really seems to be trying. And I don’t look a “most improved award” gift horse in the mouth. Ever.
But I’ve saved the best for last, folks. Nothing I’ve described thus far would even approach “gem” or “forgotten classic” status. Improvement over the first film, sure. Plenty of action and steel drums on the soundtrack. Some old school car chases (involving costumed ninjas driving cars to hilarious effect), to be sure. But nothing to write an article about, right? Wrong. Because in American Ninja 2, there’s a villainous lair on the oft verbalized “Blackbeard Island”. And on that island, not only is the white-suited Lion dealing tons and tons of drugs, but he’s also:
CREATING AN ARMY OF GENETICALLY ENHANCED SUPER NINJAS WITH THE HELP OF A KIDNAPPED SCIENTIST!
The American Ninja franchise isn’t messing around, guys. Cannon go-to director Sam Firstenburg, as well as scribes James Booth (Avenging Force and Pray For Death) and Gary Conway (Over The Top story, American Ninja 2 & 3 screenplays) aren’t merely going to dip their toes in sci-fi territory, they’re going to take this ninja franchise full bore into armies of ninja super soldiers. This reveal is handled spectacularly as well. The only woman in the entire movie ends up being Dudikoff’s love interest, of course, but she’s also the daughter of the captured scientist, who ends up weaving this incredible tale of super soldiers via exposition. We’re soon whisked to The Lion’s lair, where hundreds of ninjas stand around, and then do that thing where tons of them fight against their master. Inexplicably, the master ninja kills, like, dozens of his own men to show off his toughness to potential SuperNinja (TM) investors. I’m not sure how this proves their point, since one dude being able to kill dozens of his own Super Soldiers seems like a poor pitch to me.
Awesomely, the Marines, led by Jackson, end up storming the compound while Armstrong is trying to free some of the captured Marines who had been being kept as Super Ninja program test subjects. Much soldier-on-ninja action ensues, and of course the mythical, secretive, genetically enhanced team of assassins fall like dominoes before the might of the US Marines. I’m not sure there are actually any qualifications for having Ninja-hood bestowed upon you in this franchise beyond simply putting on an all-black outfit and mask and being, you know, any race or creed as long as it isn’t Japanese.
This entire siege sequence looks like it takes place inside of a student union at a medium-sized liberal arts college. And there’s so much Steve James flexing and ninja mayhem that I couldn’t help but be overjoyed. The addition of genetically enhanced ninja armies to this already beautifully chest-thumping film just took it to a level I never expected, and you better believe that American Ninja 2: The Confrontation, will now be my go-to title in the franchise, henceforth and into eternity.
I’m about as on the record and in the bag as someone can be for a rollicking Cannon film. There’s something about the 1980s action films of my youth that have stuck with me and they’ve become a sort of romanticized ideal for good times at the cinema. That’s why my relatively disappointing revisit to the first film was such a bummer. But taking in American Ninja 2: The Confrontation for the very first time was the sort of cinematic nirvana which I so often crave and very rarely experience. A movie like this is kind of like chasing the great white whale. I’m ever on the hunt for the elusive beast, that amazing diamond in the rough amidst the thousands of action boom titles of that bygone decade of glory. I’d spent my whole life assuming American Ninja was the best entry of the franchise and never getting around to seeing the others… while all along, Dudikoff, James, and Firstenberg were patiently awaiting my arrival, knowing full well that I’d uncover the secret army of mega-ninjas hidden on Blackbeard Island. Thanks for waiting for me, guys. I’m sorry it took so long, but the wait was worth it. I love you so much.
And I’m Out.