American Ninja 2: The Confrontation

A slight improvement over its lackluster predecessor, American Ninja 2: The Confrontation follows Michael Dudikoff’s Joe Armstrong and Steve James’ Curtis Jackson as they begin looking into the disappearance of several marines on a remote Caribbean island – where they eventually discover a power-hungry criminal who’s kidnapped a scientist and begun mass producing mutant ninja warriors. It’s an unabashedly preposterous premise that’s employed to silly yet mostly watchable effect by Sam Firstenberg, as the filmmaker, working from Gary Conway and James Booth’s screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced thriller overflowing with broadly-conceived and executed action set-pieces – with the proliferation of such moments, including a riotous fight at a seedy bar and an exciting car chase involving one exceedingly tenacious ninja, certainly going a long way towards compensating for the picture’s myriad of less-than-polished attributes. (There’s little doubt, as well, that Dudikoff fares better here than he did in the original film, although it’s hard to deny that the actor is frequently upstaged by James’ stellar, charismatic performance.) The appropriately (and appreciatively) over-the-top climax cements American Ninja 2: The Confrontation‘s place as a relatively decent ’80s actioner, which is unexpected, to say the least, given the mostly ineffective nature of 1985’s American Ninja.

**1/2 out of ****