American Ninja 2: The Confrontation

Plot synopsis:
Now promoted to Army Rangers, Joe Armstrong (Michael Dudikoff) and Curtis Jackson (Steve James) are sent to a remote Caribbean island to aid the Marine Corps in investigating the disappearance of many of its soldiers. The commanding officer, "Wild Bill" Woodward (Jeff Weston) briefs them on the situation: four marines were captured, but he doesn't know who or what they are since terrorism is out of the question. A boy named Toto (Elmo Fillis) is the only witness when he saw two soldiers get beat up by a gang and then taken by a group of men in black suits. Both men look at each other, realizing that they've been in this situation before.
Upon arriving, Charlie McDonald invites them to go water skiing. Tommy Taylor (Jonathan Pienaar) takes them on their boat to Mangrove Island, but sabotages it by unhooking the motor source. Everyone decides to swim, but Joe becomes suspicious, and wants to stay on shore. Shortly thereafter, he is attacked by ninjas but is rescued by Curtis. Their report back is discarded, nevertheless Woodward gives them a week to investigate. Tommy is told to lure Armstrong into a trap during a phone conversation with the Lion, and tells Joe where to meet him: at the Blind Beggar Bar. Joe is attacked by the same group of thugs from the beginning of the film, and proceeds to get little from Taylor about a drug dealer by the nickname of The Lion (Gary Conway) before he is killed by ninjas. Joe and Curtis inform Wild Bill who tells them that Taylor told of a location in which the Lion conducts his experiments: Blackbeard Island. Wild Bill is all for it, but while awaiting for approval, he invites them to the governor's ball. They arrive, and Inspector Singh (Bill Curry) quickly accuses Armstrong of killing Taylor.
Wild Bill gives Jackson and Armstrong permission to rescue a girl named Alicia Sanborn (Michelle Botes) after she is taken by local thugs after crashing the ball upon seeing that The Lion was there. Jackson and Armstrong (along with Charlie) follow them into the Blind Beggar's Bar and fight the local gang and escape. They pick up Wild Bill from the ball and make up a story about Armstrong disappearing to avoid being questioned by Singh. Armstrong tracks Alicia with the help of Toto, but are attacked by ninjas. He single-handedly takes them out, before being rescued by a truck-driving Toto. One of the ninjas manages to get on the vehicle, but Armstrong makes both Toto and Alicia jump out of the vehicle before Armstrong himself jumps. The vehicle crashes into gas cans and a building, exploding the truck and killing the ninja. Joe and Alicia head on over to the boats, while Joe gives Toto a message to give to Wild Bill that they are on their way to Blackbeard Island. They have to wait awhile as patrol guards are in the water; they must wait until nighttime to travel. Alicia tells Joe about her father's plans of a scientific breakthrough to cure cancer before Burke (The Lion) bought his lab and had other plans. Jackson and the other marines have to wait on the base for a go-ahead from the ambassador, and that Armstrong is on his own for now.
Joe and Alicia reach the island and infiltrate the lab by donning ninja clothing, all while Burke is introducing his SuperNinja program. They rescue Professor Sanborn, who informs Joe where the captive marines are being held. Joe rescues the captive marines, but are caught trying to escape. All face off against a group of ninjas. Joe and the marines eventually gain the upper hand at first, but the ninjas eventually kill all but 2 of the marines. The marines stage an attack on the base, and reveal that the governor and Inspector Singh are also part of Burke's scheme. The governor is arrested by Wild Bill and his men while Singh's fate is unknown. The Professor confronts Burke and manages to destroy his SuperNinja program with a remote-control bomb, killing them both. Joe Armstrong does one final battle with Tojo Ken and kills him. The marines leave the island and celebrate, while Jackson and Armstrong say goodbye to their friends as they head back to America.

Tags: violence, flashback

Review:
American Ninja 2: The Confrontation is the best movie in the whole series and one of the best action movies I have ever seen.
But what makes this movie great is the unbelievable amount of action: ninja fights on a beach, bar fights, car chases, explosions, more explosions, sword fights.
Because ninjas look cool and have three main characteristics that common soldiers don't have: they are FAST (the quickness with which their ass gets kicked is just amazing), they are SILENT (maybe they're silent, but that doesn't help them when they wander around in their black suits in broad daylight!) and they are DEADLY (I don't think they managed to kill anyone in the movie let alone even scratching Dudikoff).
Prior to the first AN, American Ninja 2, provide lots of action and suspense just like the first one.
Both Armstrong and Jackson(Michael Dudikoff and Steve James) were always on top of things.
This movie is just as good as first, however it does have more action though, which I like the best.
Like the first movie, James steals the show from Dudikoff, both in his martial arts skills and with a bouncy performance that makes him a treat to watch.
He's still very unemotional, has almost no dialogue, and it's still clear he knows little to nothing about martial arts, seeing how he does pretty simple moves (when not being doubled.)Despite the movie being weighed down by Dudikoff's presence, it's still a fun movie, certainly better than the first movie.
You get some classic one liners out of Steve James (who is the real star of this movie), The Dude (Mikael Dudikoff) kicking people half way across the screen.
What makes this movie is the bar room scene nearing the end of the film, this is where James shines he combines a bad-a$$ fighting technique and great one liners at the same time.
to me,this sequel had a more developed plot line than the first movie.it a fairly preposterous one,but it is semblance of a story nonetheless.and besides,reality doesn't necessarily factor into these movies in a big way,so that's not surprising.there are many more fight sequences in this one as well.and to me,the fight scenes seemed better executed,much more exciting.the acting is no better or worse than in the first one.i actually think as a whole the movie is slightly better due to the improved fight sequences.again you just have to remember that it's not high art you're in for when you sit down to view this film,or it's prequel/sequels.it basically a disposable(but enjoyable)ninety +/-minutes.for me,American Ninja 2: The Confrontation is an 8/10.
This violent art-martial film is the second entry about our heroes, the Rangers duo, Sergeant Armstrong(Michel Dudikoff)along with his proficient sidekick, Sergeant Jackson(Steve James) who are assigned a difficult mission at Caribbean Island( at the original film was Philipines).
The movie is co-starred by Steve James(1952-1993), a corpulent fighter, he usually acted partner to tough stars, Michael Dudikoff(three times), Chuck Norris and David Carradine, but sadly he early deceased.Besides appear a flashbacks scenes with John Fujioka, the coach who trained Dudikoff on the art-martial world.
Dudikoff and Steve James return as karate-kicking Army soldiers, this time investigating a mysterious Caribbean island where soldiers have been disappearing.
The bad guy there is creating genetically-enhanced super Ninjas or something like that, using the work of a kidnapped doctor, who's daughter informs Dudikoff about his abduction and imprisonment on the island.
There's a wild truck chase and a fun bar fight, and an all-out action-packed climax on the island between an army of Ninja and the Army.
American Ninja 2: The Confrontation was a fairly good B film.
He was also a Martial arts coordinator in the first four "American ninja" films.
It's a good job, then, that new recruits to the island are Joe Armstrong (Dudikoff) and Curtis Jackson (James), hard-hitting army boys with PhDs in Macho and becoming slightly used to this kind of thing by now.
The whole affair's a charade, comic-book action at its relentless best that seems to retain a certain charm and good nature despite its B-movie faults - and the returning duo do well; Dudikoff playing it straight and stern while James supplies crucial comic relief..
The American Ninja films are notorious for movie mistakes, but this one takes the cake.
No matter how dumb the director may be, Michael Dudikoff and Steve James still kick ass and that's what the first two movies are all about.
American Ninja 2, or Episode II as I like to call it, is about Joe Armstrong's encounter with genetically enhanced clones.
Dudikoff isn't in the third film so you can skip it; after all, he IS the American Ninja..
I have never laughed so hard than when watching the hilarious fight scenes (which I'm sure they must have slowed the cameras down for), and the brilliantly bad plot (given to us after a thrilling high speed chase and fight, with our hero (played with no great sense of irony by Michael Dudikoff)and his lady taking a break to watch the sun set and fill us in on the background details.This is a must-see bad film classic.
There was once a day when non-ironic movies about a ninja battling an army of genetically altered, cyberneticly enhanced super ninja's, who were really brain washed marines controlled by an evil drug king pin could still get into theater.
The American Ninja and his commando friend Curtis "The Power House" Jackson show up on an island where marines are disappearing.
The American Ninja series is famous (wait don't laugh let me finish the sentence) for employing sword slashing that is so fake looking it seems realistic...
It is a real shame Steve James (Curt) passed away because the American Ninja series really suffered after he left.
While the 1st was made in the Philippines, this time the 2nd is made in South Africa and even though MGM took custody later, the movie was made with local budget and local actors with exceptional with Michael Dudikoff and Steve James.Joe and his friend Curtis leave the army to help out an investigation for the marine core in a tropical island.
Later in the investigation Joe learn that the ninjas are back and they are involved with the 4 men's disappearance.Even though the acting has disproved compared with the first movie, it's still enjoyable, it's one of those that is bad that it's excellent.
The second installment of the "American Ninja" series isn't very good, but is made watchable thanks tho Steve James.
Besides from his awesome hair, he spouts out one-liners and is the person in the film who can do that thing where lots of people jumps on him and he can throw them all off at once and get them to sound like someone has just got a strike bowling.
The premise is pure comic book and this may be a Cannon movie, but the production values seem pretty good and I think non-martial artist Dudikoff's fighting is a bit better than it was in the jokey original.This isn't actually a bad effort for a film of this genre.
Michael Dudikoff and Steve James are back as Army Ranger buddies sent to an island where some Marines have disappeared.
Overall, most of the secondary fight scenes are much better done than in the first movie.What I Didn't Like
Amiable sequel to the popular Cannon Group martial arts potboiler reunites Michael Dudikoff and Steve James as Army Rangers Armstrong and Jackson.
As great drama or even great action films the American Ninja series will never be up there with Rambo or Dirty Harry.
Just don't take this seriously folks.The second of the American Ninja series has Dudikoff and Steve James sent as army rangers on a case to discover why some Marines are disappearing on a Caribbean tropic island country where these Marines are most informal.
And if you didn't like part one, then you will not like part two either.Again, you got all the campy ingredients; cheesy storyline, generic characters, stereotypical villain, worthless henchmen, wonderful dialogue (you see the irony here, right?), action, martial arts, explosions and, of course, ninjas!
Didn't he himself request the help?Story-wise, well with little deviation from part one, it is about American ninja Joe Armstrong who is on a Caribbean island to solve the mysterious disappearances of US marine personnel, when he is confronted by a ninja syndicate.While not a masterpiece, "American Ninja 2: The Confrontation" is as enjoyable as the previous movie.
More Dumb Fun. Sequel to the "classic" American Ninja sees Michael Dudikoff and Steve James tackling a villain named The Lion.
This to me is the best out of American Ninja series movies.
This really added to its atmosphere.Michael Dudikoff and Steven Jones looked great in the Marine's uniform, and the cast of girls they collected (even as extras) were notches above the other movies from this series.If there's one American Ninja series movie to watch, this one is highly recommended..
After watching the first American Ninja, I had high hopes for the second one and in the end, I got exactly what I wanted from this film.
It had everything (well almost everything) that I expected, more ninjas, more action, more silliness and more Michael Dudikoff kicking some ninja butt compared to the first oneMichael is as cool as ever, had more lines in this movie compared to the first one (although still not that much) and as usual likes to let his hands do the talking most of the time for him.
I thought that he would have been given a more challenging situation in this film seeing that the organization that he fighting up against are producing super ninja soldiers but once again he made look like he was just going up against a bunch of kindergarden ninjas who weren't even worthy of challenging him at all.
Even the main head ninja in the end was also just out of Dudikoff's league and how he managed to stuff a shotgun under his ninja gear, I have no ideaI didn't really like Steve Jame's character much in this second film since I felt like he was too cocky in when he fights (especially the part where he, Dudikoff and one of their marine friends had that brawl at the bar) but he still does a solid job in this one I still like the part where he finished last ninja just simply shouting 'STAY DOWN' at himHowever, these are just minor complaints that I could come out with since overall, the movie was still mindlessly fun to watch for two hours.
I would recommend this to anyone out there who would love to get spend two or three hours of their time watching some mindless but yet still fun ninja buttkicking action film.
1.)A solid action movie about an American fighting ninjas or 2.)You're gonna laugh till you hurt.
Seems the drug-lord is looking to build a super ninja army and are kidnapping marines to do it.
"American Ninja 2" continues exactly in the same way the first movie ended.
It's the same thing all over again: Cheesy story, tons of ninjas, fighting scenes and standard mediocre b-action movie acting.
The bar-fight and the last scene are especially great, he shows that he is THE KING himself in this movie-series.
Michael Dudikoff and Steve James return as Joe Armstrong and Curtis Jackson two martial arts experts who hunt a drug lord who is geneticly altering soldiers in this slightly improved yet still ultimately mediocre sequel.
Actually i take that back, watch if you love to critize the hell out of this and want a good laugh from a really bad movie..
American Ninja 2 has plenty of action, but still can't match the entertainment of the original.
This is the last pretty good movie in the American Ninja series.
There is as much story in "American ninja 2" as in a porn movie .
The kindest thing that can be said of this movie is that they did not intend for American Ninja 2 to be so homo-erotic.
Clearly the producers were hoping to make a much different sort of action film, and when you watch it you see two visions at war with each other, one force wanting to make a ninja movie and the other force wanting to make gay porn.
Ninja films are probably the lowest kind of subgenre within the genre of martial arts flicks, and AMERICAN NINJA 2: THE CONFRONTATION isit's biggest example.
For example, He would say the line "I want to kill you!" the same way he would say, "I love you" or "The president has been kidnapped." And also his giant package that my girlfriend noticed last viewing of the movie which is ridiculous and pertruding.Now for individual scenes; When Dudikoff and James are meeting with Wild Bill for the first time, look at Dudikoff at the end of the scene and you will see that it isn't dudikoff at all but a stunt double.
The time flies by as you watch American Ninja 2 because it satisfies all your action needs!.
It's easy to see why people have such fond memories of the American Ninja series after watching this enjoyable movie.Sgt. Joe Armstrong (The Dude) and Sgt. Curtis Jackson (James) return, this time sent to a Caribbean island to find some missing Marines.
This REAL sequel (as opposed to the miserable American Ninja 5, 1993 thankfully Cannon didn't decide to go all "30% new footage" on us) delivers the goods, as it doesn't retread the first film, but still provides all the best elements that fans want to see: cool stunts, well-timed moves, barfights, chases, blow-ups, tasteful humor, and Dudikoff's cool hair.
Now add to that some out-and-out ninja fighting, and the chemistry between Dudikoff and James and you have a winner.
The whole movie has a sense of fun to it, which is refreshing, and due in large part to the underrated Steve James.
It's a fairly common problem, but the sawdust-covered arena where the final battle takes place is an ideal location for the inevitable "Confrontation" we were promised in the movie's subtitle.The time flies by as you watch American Ninja 2 because it satisfies all your action needs.
Two Rangers are called in to replace the marines and find out what is going on, Curtis Jackson (Steve James) and Joe Armstrong (Michael Dudikoff) who contrary to his anme fights with his feet.The movie is 80's corny.
And yet somehow just like the first one it is watchable and fun and has this bizarre likable quality to the stars who try so hard and act so serious in such a cheesy movie.
The plot is even more cheesy and fun than the first film and adds in a "beach" quality to the story as Joe and Curtis are brought to a Caribbean Island where marines are disappearing.
As if we needed more reason to be a cheese-fest, an evil villain is building an army of super-ninjas (who really aren't that super at all and Joe Armstrong still manages to beat up bunches of them.) Its dumb, brainless, takes itself way too seriously and is fun and simple and you'll laugh and cheer despite yourself at the sheer 80's silliness.
It is as bad as the first one which makes this sequel as good as the first one too.Michael Dudikoff returns to do what he does best...or worst.
He probably should have been the star but he definitely gets plenty of screen time and somehow he and Dudikoff work as a team, better than the first film actually.
The film this time gets a definitive evil villain in the form of Gary Conway as "The Lion." He is appropriate bad and Bond-villain like and ridiculous all at once.
Joe Armstrong (the likable Michael Dudikoff) and Curtis Jackson (the equally engaging Steve James) battle a legion of genetically engineered ninja assassins on a Caribbean island.
Dudikoff and James become involved with some problems when a few marines in Bermuda shorts get kidnapped by......ninjas.Someones dad has been kidnapped too, because the bad guy in the white suit wants to create the perfect specimen.
And he must be dangerous, because one of his henchmen has a lazy eye, and kills other ninjas for a laugh.The guy with the lazy eye is the toughest ninja because on the beach, he stands on a rock and makes threatening hand gestures to Dudikoff.The second installment of the series isn't very good, but is made watchable thanks tho Steve James.
Besides from his awesome hair, he spouts out one-liners and is the person in the film who can do that thing where lots of people jumps on him and he can throw them all off at once and get them to sound like someone has just got a strike bowling.Dudikoff doesn't fare as well though.
Michael Dudikoff and Steve James reprise their roles as ninja exterminators in this classic sequel to one of the best black masked franchise's of all times.
It's action like this that makes the series magical, i only wish they could have kept Dudikoff and James in all of them.
plus, when the army storms the HQ at the end of the film, weapons seem to appear from nowhere.I would say "American Ninja 2" is an example of how not to make movies.
The lion's crew had been successful at kidnapping marines for further testing so two Army Rangers, Joe & Curtis(Michael Dudikoff & Steve James)are brought in to find their whereabouts.
If you like corny 80's ninja actioners where bad guys wait to be punched and couldn't hurt Dudikoff if they wanted to, this is right up your alley.
The film provides those who like this sort of thing a small plot, with little acting, and a lot of people getting kicked and thrown in the air.
A lot of the fight sequences are badly choreographed so that Dudikoff could come off unstoppable as ninjas seem to fall right into their demise.