3 Ninjas Knuckle Up
3 Ninjas Knuckle Up is a 1993 American martial arts comedy film taking place in between "3 Ninjas" and "3 Ninjas Kick Back". The film was directed by Shin Sang-ok, using the pseudonym "Simon Sheen". The film was shot in 1992, the same year the first film was released, but was not released until 1995. Plot. 13-year-old Rocky (Michael Treanor), 12-year-old Colt (Max Elliott Slade), 8-year-old Tum Tum (Chad Power) defend "Truth, Justice and the American Way", once more - this time, protecting a Native American village and the rest  of society against a Toxic Waste Company. During a summer, the boys are staying with Grandpa Mori (Victor Wong) when they encounter a group of men harassing and assaulting a girl named Jo (Crystle Lightning) at a pizza parlor. Colt, Tum-Tum and Rocky step in to protect her, cheered on by the admiring customers. After fending off the men with their martial arts techniques, they are praised as heroes which gives them big heads. However, they are put to work by Mori and the pizza owner to work off damages. Mori tries to teach them a lesson in humility , but the reference of a flower blooming goes over their heads. Jo comes to the boys later and explains that the men are under the employ of Jack Harding (Charles Napier), an industrialist who is illegally dumping toxic contents into the reserve. Without proof, they can do nothing. Jo's father had gone to investigate but had not returned. Colt, who is seemingly attracted to Jo, says that they will help, and they mount an escape plan for her father that night, which is successful. They spend the night celebrating with the tribe and getting thanks for helping them. Jo 's father appeals for a court date with significant evidence to put Jack out of business for good, undeterred. Jack arranges to have Jo kidnapped by the Bikers and convince her father to falsify his evidence, which he has no other choice. Rocky and the others get information to where Jo is being held, drive out to free her and return before the court case is dismissed and all of her father's hard work accounts for nothing at all. After fighting through a small band of armed men, they find Jo and return her to the court house just  before her father turns the real evidence over to Jack. He admits his mistake and hands the evidence to the EPA representative who deems the case and shuts down the company producing the waste. Jo looks around for the 'heroes' of the day, but they are nowhere to be found. Rocky realizes the point of Mori's earlier lesson: that a flower is content to bloom quietly, without clamoring for attention. The film ends with Grandpa Mori and the boys somersaulting into the air in victory. Reception. The film received mostly negative reviews. On Metacritic, "3 Ninjas Knuckle Up" holds  39 out of a 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". The film was nominated for Worst Sequel and The Sequel Nobody Was Clamoring For at the 1995 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, but lost to "" and "", respectively. Despite negativity, Michael Sauter of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a "B−" grade.