Police cobra

I know it's contrary to what we're used, but "Black Cobra 2" is a lot better than "Black Cobra 1". Hooray! We found a rarity: a sequel that surpasses the original. This wasn't very difficult to accomplish, however, as the original was a complete mess of a film! The first was just a cheap attempt to cash in on Stallone's violent action flick "Cobra", but this movie actually has an ambitious plot, a half-decent narrative structure, light bulbs to brighten up the film sets and Fred Williamson who looks at least somewhat interested in the script. He returns as the unorthodox Chicago copper Robert Malone. For some reason, the opening sequences really accentuate that the film takes place in Chicago. There are shots of the Chicago Sun Times, the central station and Williamson himself even wears a jacket of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. After another umpteenth showcasing of his ruthless – but highly effective – working methods, Malone is forced to participate in a police exchange program. He's sent to The Philippines, where he falls under the command of Manila Interpol lieutenant McCall. One day later, Malone finds himself in trouble already, when they discover the assassinated body of a pickpocket artist who stole his wallet at the airport. Before they properly realize, Malone and McCall are caught up in a web of deceit, kidnapping, extortion, hired mercenaries and even terrorism. In many ways this is a typically annoying 80's movie, because it features irrelevant padding footage (bamboo dancing, anyone?), a pathetic romantic compilation and a lot of painfully awful "comical" interludes. It's also incredibly slow in places, with overlong boring investigations and completely unexciting fight sequences. Fred Williamson perhaps looks very tough, with his gigantic mustache and even bigger cigars, but he really sucks at Kung Fu moves! The climax is laugh-out-loud hilarious, as it includes the preparation of something what appears to become the biggest and most adventurous operation in the history of action cinema, but eventually Malone and McCall are just set out to kill three guys in two minutes.

The Black Cobra 2 (1989) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows Lieutenant Bob Malone being restationed from Chicago to the Philippines where his methods hopefully cause less issues. He arrives in Manila and immediately is targeted by a local gang and pick pocketed. He will need to work with a local police officer, ie his new partner, to track down his stolen wallet and the people behind the act.

This movie is directed by Edoardo Margheriti (Black Cobra 3) and stars Fred Williamson (Dusk till Dawn), Nicholas Hammond (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Peter Ladkani (Delta Force 2).

This picture has fun 80s music throughout. I really enjoyed the soundtrack. The writing is very average, both the storyline and dialogue. The one liners were corny and not as witty as they hoped. There was too much about this film that was cliche and the end felt like a bubble gum commercial.

Overall, I would consider this a below average addition to the buddy cop genre. I would score this a 3.5/10 and recommend skipping it.

Malone (Fred Williamson) is back (good gawd!).

The intro/beginning of this film is actually pretty funny. See a crummy car keep up with a Suzuki racing motorcycle looping through a parking garage! See a harrowing 2 MPH motorcycle crash! See the running bad-guy actor slow down to let a winded Williamson catch up to him - several times!

After Malone blasts this evil motorcyclist into oblivion, he gets shipped off to the Philippines until Chicago cools down. Apparently to help Interpol (huh? wha?). At this point the film becomes incomprehensible and boring like BC#1. Malones wallet is pinched, there are some sinister Iranians, microfilm, then there is a surreal hostage taking/rescue which belongs in a DADA performance art happening rather than in an action film.

Fred Williamson is a bit more awake in BC#2 than he is in BC#1. His acting is a little better, more relaxed, more focused. There are more laugh-out-loud lines in this film.

The soundtrack is better than BC#1. Decent Jan Hammer/Miami Vice ripoff sound. The film is also full of whacky 1980's artifacts. Williamson is constantly wears a powder blue Members Only jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Leather pants, The women in the film have some pretty scary haircuts. The sets/props/hair-do's blend seamlessly with the cheese-ball soundtrack.

Even with all the faults, if the pacing was better this could have been a watchable flick. Unfortunately the film is clunky and boaring at points when it needs to be exciting. Worth watching just the goofy intro and then F.F. to some of the more absurdist scenes.

Apparently there is a Black Cobra #3.

Its not so much that I WANT to review this film, I just feel that I ought to! In a word, unadulterated, almost dubbed, buddy-cop crap! (I know, that's several words!)

Financed incredibly after the failure of the first "Black Cobra" outing, Malone is back as the cop whose lips are as out of sync as they were in the original...only Michael Winslow could do better! As for Nicholas Hammond, the globally loved little Von Trapp, his future never took off. He made this shortly after a lengthy stint living in Australia and appearing in a few reasonable teleplays!

Hey, but what can you expect from Director Stelvio Massie who for reasons best known to himself, has helmed productions in many European countries as either himself, Max Steele, Stefano Catalano, Newman Rostel or Dan Edwards, amongst others?

If you thought Stallone's COBRA was less than Oscar material, you just gotta see this!

"Black Cobra 2" is one of those rarities - a sequel that is better than the original. Actually, considering how awful the first movie was in just about every aspect, it wouldn't take anyone much effort to crank out a better movie. This time, Chicago cop Malone (actually, he was a NEW YORK cop in the first movie!) is sent to Manila, and the fact that making movies there is pretty cheap probably explains the improvement. The cinematography is more colorful, the lighting is better, the indoor shooting locations look less impoverished, and there are some colorful outdoor locations. The action scenes are also an improvement, though some of this comes from the unintentionally hilarity of the martial arts sequences. However, the movie still suffers from the fact that it's mostly DULL. It's a slow-moving story, with the investigation going on forever and taking half an hour from the opening action scene to get to the next action scene. And while they got more out of their dollar for production values, the movie still suffers from cheapness, like the fact the hostages at the climatic scene are never seen. Anyway, I'll see you again when I review part 3...