It’s hard to say if the producers intentionally made this hilariously bad or if they took themselves seriously enough to accidentally make this hilariously bad.
Either way, it is hilariously bad.
According to the documentary on Cannon films, Electric Boogaloo, the mindset of these producers was to turn and burn those flicks on the cheap.
This production value is demonstrated when ninjas seem to pop out of nowhere on a beach or from the roof of a nondescript building in the middle of the city.
Michael Dudikoff reprises his role in the American Ninja. He doesn’t seem like a ninja, but that doesn’t matter. He can defeat ninjas in battles throughout the movie, so that probably qualifies the guy.
Joe (Michael Dudikoff) was able to fight them off with no problem. At one point, all it took was a broken stick to assassinate a group of well-trained assassins. Another time, he used an old truck. Considering the budget was
Steve James is the true master in this sequel though. The dude is a combination of Junkyard Dog and the “crazy voice” guy from the Police Academy movies (Michael Winslow) if both of them merged into one and worked out frequently.
The guy knows how to beach battle and he is not atfraid to go Mano y Mano in lieu of weapons. However, if a weapon was around and/or needed, Steven James took advantage of and knew how to use it.
If a shirt was around, he would frequently refuse. In rare cases, he may even pose with the shirt draped around his neck just to spite the “wear a shirt” crowd.
Together, Joe and Jackson take on a series of ninjas and other bad guys to get to the bottom of something that was missed at the beginning of the movie. It probably does not really matter though because the good ninjas and their best friends ALWAYS win out in the end.
Joe and Jackson know how to stir up some shit. Outside of battling some beach ninjas and getting in a bar fight with some bad dudes, they constantly caused havoc to The Lion and his plans of biological engineering.
At one point, The Lion says “…that damned American Ninja!” and “I want that man…Alive.” When Joe and some of his fellow soldiers get trapped on an island, Jackson works to construct a band of warriors to help find them, battle ninjas with them and get them the hell out of there.
Although this sequel was made in 1987, the bioengineering plot may have inspired the same bioengineers terrorizing our planet today. This deep state consortium is trying to “control the building blocks of life”.
To be continued.. (currently at the 1 hr mark. Only 30 minutes to go.)
Mind Stroll 