Tai Seng video cover

Lethal Panther 2

1993

Director: Phillip Ko

Stars: Yukari Oshima, Crystal Kwok

Before the juggernaut of Jurassic Park de-railed the local HK movie industry (or, perhaps more accurately, put it off course) by becoming the all-time box office champ, HK studios were producing a record number of movies per year. To take a quote from Tsui Hark about Wong Jing's movies, most of these were "cheap, fast and no good," and Lethal Panther 2 is a good example. This cheapie (shot in the Philipines) is so derivative of other movies that it copies stuff from them wholesale, such as music from The Terminator and a "car joust" at the end ala Bullet in the Head. It doesn't really help matters that the film is edited so badly that it started giving me a headache about halfway through.

The story has Yukari as an Interpol agent who comes to the Philipines in search of some Japanese terrorists�and that's about it. There's the usual attempts at humor and romance, but they all fall flat, as does most of the script -- which really hampers the movie as a whole. And, as per usual for most of Yukari's films during this period, the emphasis here is really not on Yukari, but rather on a two-bit actor trying to make a name for themselves; this time it's a low-rent gweilo who makes Jeff Speakman look like a tough guy. Major Yukari fans might still want to give this one a look, since the role is a bit different for her (she actually smiles -- and not in an evil way -- during the movie) and it's one of the few times she's used wires onscreen.

RATING: 4

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