Forced Vengeance
1982; directed by James Fargo

In Forced Vengeance, Chuck Norris plays Josh Randall, an ex-Marine who came to Hong Kong after serving in Vietnam and now makes his living by providing security for a local casino. Subscribing to movie rules, apparently this is a "good" casino that doesn't cheat customers and never waters down their drinks... yeah, right. Anyway, there's an evil crime boss who wants to take over the casino, and so he begins attacking Chuck's friends and family, which, of course, means it's on like Donkey Kong.

Okay, so no one watches a Chuck Norris movie for the plot or acting, but Forced Vengeance takes things so slow, you'll be wondering if you accidentally popped a couple of Nytols before you started watching the movie. Almost every shot seems to just linger, as if the director only had one go at each setup and had to milk out all the possible footage he could -- which, frankly, was probably the case.

Things do pick up during the final act, where the film takes a noticeably nasty turn with several bloody deaths and a fairly graphic rape scene thrown in. Sure, these sorts of things add a little excitement, but they come off as little more than a cheap gimmick to keep the viewer interested. Certainly, the ultra-stiff and generically staged fight scenes (some of which have Chucky heavily doubled) aren't exactly up to the task of getting your heart pumping.

Probably most damingly, the production makes very little use of the local talent. Sharp-eyed viewers may be able to catch a few cameos by future stars like Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Anita Lee, as well as 80's gweilo favorite Richard Norton (who was Norris' bodyguard at this time) in a campy appearance as a wannabe tough guy in short shorts and a ridiculous porn star moustache that manages to upstage Chuck's famous mighty flavor-saver.

But besides that, you probably could have set this movie in any number of Asian cities and probably have gotten the same result. Even die-hard Chuck Norris fans would be hard pressed to squeeze much enjoyment out of this entry in his filmography. Hell, it's not even so bad as to be fun to rip on MST3K style after a few beers -- it's just boring. And for an action movie, that's the final nail in the coffin.

RATING: 4