BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

swedzin The first film was pretty boring and bad. This one is entertaining only by one bit. The old crew is back, leaded by Jalal Merhi, (always hot) Cynthia Rothrock and Bolo Yeung. And it's specifically for martial arts fans and for fans of noted action actors… Two police officers are tracking a criminal named Victor and they think that he is involved with underground martial arts tournament in which Bolo Yeung is also involved. I think that this movie would not be that interesting without Bolo, I think that he is the main purpose, the main vehicle that holds this film. Bolo has this strong presence and appearance and that unmistakable charisma. There is nothing special to talk about, the fight scenes ( for which we are here, mostly) are solid. Actors cannot act worth of crap. The script, score, editing… and everything else is just not that intriguing. The film includes "acting crew" that are mostly athletes. Overall, keep this low budget pearl to yourself, or share it with like-minded people. It's definitively not for everyone.

Comeuppance Reviews When evil arms dealer Victor (Lurie) joins forces with the sinister Chong (Bolo), presumably to start some kind of criminal empire, and people are found dead all over San Francisco, cops Linda (Rothrock) and Tarek (Merhi) want to get to the bottom of it. Also they are in a romantic relationship. Things get really complicated when Dai Lo Fu (Ong), using his Chinatown restaurant as cover, is staging underground martial arts contests - with a supernatural twist. Now, to get to the truth, Linda and Tarek must compete. Will any of this make any kind of sense? Clearly the world was asking - nay - BEGGING for one more Tiger Claws movie. And there's even a third one after this! This movie is a hodgepodge of half-baked ideas that make no sense. It feels like the filmmakers were just kind of flying by the seats of their respective pants and kind of making stuff up as they went along. Probably not a good idea, especially if your choice for the male hero is the unintelligble, mumbling, personality-less, unlikable Jalal Merhi. He looks like a Balki-era Bronson Pinchot crossed with Night of the Wilding-era Erik Estrada. One of the biggest plot flaws is why Cynthia Rothrock is in love with him. And the scene in which he must use his awesome martial arts prowess to "save" Cynthia Rothrock is just preposterous. It should have been the other way around.We like Evan Lurie, especially after American Kickboxer 2 (1993), and he was a good choice for one of the villains. He is charismatic and perhaps a member of the Trenchcoat mafia. How his illegal gun shipment has to do with a "secret passage" and a mystical prisoner (Lee) cannot be explained. Han Soo Ong, who we've seen in Last to Surrender (1999) and King of the Kickboxers (1990), we believe is Korean, so why is he the crime boss here? The presumed Punchfighting sequences are just cash-ins for video games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, and are just silly and nonsensical. Additionally, the film is filled with funny continuity errors and has that Canadian feel. And while Merhi isn't quite as sucky as he was in Talons of the Eagle, 1992 (which was written by director Maunder, as was TC 2000 (1993), as well as the other Tiger Claws movies and other Merhi vehicles - he must have really believed in the "Tiger Claws" concept, as well as Jalal Merhi, so his judgment is certainly in question), he's no prince here either. Even Rothrock, who we love, can't save this one.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

gridoon Why weird, you ask? Well, consider these points: 1) It's called "Tiger Claws II", but the Tiger style is barely used in it.2) The first movie was a "track down the serial killer" story, this is more of an "underground martial arts tournament" story.3) Bolo Yeung is now - get this - a good guy! In the film's most laughable line, he is referred to by Jalal Merhi as an "honorable man"! I guess Merhi has gotten over the fact that several innocent people - including his best friend - were killed by Bolo in the first "Tiger Claws". 4) Cynthia Rothrock (who looks very good for 41) has virtually no action scenes until the 50-minute mark, but does get a couple of good fights near the end.5) There some half-explained sci-fi elements, including time-traveling.Two more points: the production values are slicker than those of most DTV action sequels, and Evan Lurie, playing one of the bad guys, has a kind of slimy charisma, as opposed to the lead Merhi, who has none at all. (**)

wanderingstar There is only one scenario where you should watch "Tiger Claws II".You are on an airplane which crashes in the South Pacific. The only survivor, you swim to a nearby deserted island. You learn to eke out an existence on this island by eating tropical fruit and spearing small boars in the jungle. A monkey becomes your only friend, but every night it hurls feces at you from a tree and chatters annoyingly. And it doesn't just hurl its own feces, it actually gathers the feces of other animals and throws that at you too. This goes on every night for 15 years.One evening you are exploring and find a cave. Entering the cave, to your surprise, you find a TV, VCR, and generator. You pull the cord on the generator and again surprised, it starts. You plug the TV and VCR in, but unfortunately the only movie is an old copy of "Tiger Claws II". You wonder whether to spend another evening with the monkey, or watch the movie.This is the only scenario where you should watch "Tiger Claws II".