Return of the Street Fighter

Howdy folk.  Need to apologize, the migraine fairy came to visit and short changed me any time at all to write.   That being said we move back to Sonny Chiba in the Street Fighter series again.  Yup, Terry Tsurguri is back in action, kicking ass and taking names again.   This time around, Terry has another interaction with the Yakuza and the fists go flying.  This is Return of the Street Fighter.

Are you calling me, pretty?

Sonny is back as Terry but we do not have that typical sequel that is bridging multiple added characters that are linked to the previous characters of the original.  In fact,  I think Terry is the only reprising character at all so that's one bullet dodged.  The story is a bit more simplistic as Terry looks into whether or not a charity cause is being looted from the Yakuza. 

With the police almost as corrupt as the Yakuza, Terry seems to be fighting both but concentrates his efforts on the Yakuza primarily.    There are several flashbacks from the original but unlike something like the Hills Have Eyes 2 were it felt like filler, these seem to either haunt Terry or are plaguing his mind at the time.  I mean you rip a guy's wang off in a fight, it should stay with you.   Oh sorry, was that spoilers from The Street Fighter??  Walk it off!!

Ryu wins!

I guess to compromise the previous flick's graphic violence, we get some nudity so yes titties for all and all a good night.   To be honest, nudity was a welcome exchange versus genitals getting ripped off.   Even with toning down the violence levels, this film was still rated X (NO NC-17 yet) and no one knew how to quantify the flicks' genre or sub-genre.

Again martial arts master is doing dirty deeds for the mob and offering up a series of ass whippings to anyone in his way.   The action is substantial, the voice dubbing is...okay it is really over the top most of the time and the scoring of the soundtrack is very 70s and rocking along.   Just watch it with subtitles.  Taking in all that, Terry seems a bit more tongue and cheek, almost a sense of humor since he murdered those men with his bare hands.   No clue if they were trying for less of an X rating or if they wanted to showcase that Chiba could take himself lightly.

Snow levels are always difficult.

Once again Toei Production put out some guerilla filming (gonzo or grindhouse) about taboo concepts and concerns with this film than most of their subgenre films.  We have Manga live action films, cop dramas, cartoons for children, sukeban (troubled teenage girl) women in prison films, Anime, thrillers, horror and even some comedy.

It kind of reminds me how many of the Paramount hated the Friday the 13th films and the money it and its sequels made them.  Maybe it is that way with Toei and the Street Fighter series.   I noticed New Line Cinema didn't mind the revenue.