Black Scorpion II: Aftershock (1996)

Darcy Walker's back on the City of Angels police force, and her constumed (well, barely...) identity Black Scorpion is back on the streets. Now Darcy/Black Scorpion must not only contend with fighting two seperate and different battles against crime (as well as fighting against her partner and love/lust interest Michael's obliviousness), she must also save the city from destruction at the hands of two new supervillains, Aftershock and the Gangster Prankster.

In my review of the original movie, I confessed to being an avid Black Scorpion fan. Hopefully this little fact won't completely ruin my credibility in writing this, but you still might want to keep that mind.

That said...

Being a somewhat optimistic movie buff, I dream of a better world, a world where sequels are only made if they continue or add to the original's story, where there is actually a strong sense of continuity that isn't ruined by sudden and radical alterations in story, theme, or even cast. This is such a sequel.

Pretty much the entire original cast is back, with the exception of Bruce Abbott who played Michael Russo. But that doesn't make much of a difference since the character of Michael Russo's only point is to act clueless toward Darcy's none-too-subtle advances, though he seems to have become even more of a joke in this movie (the langerie scene is actually one of the movie's highpoints.) Joan Severence still seems born to play Darcy Walker/Black Scorpion. She manages to bring some sense of dignity and style to the role, and yet keeps up a healthy aura of camp.

The cast wasn't the only thing that was kept, though. Since this is a Roger Corman production, sets, shots, scenes, and even the visuals playing during the opening credits are recycled from the original Black Scorpion, and not always subtly. So if you saw the first one, expect a very strong sense of Deja Vu with the sequel.

Unfortunately, some of the quality of the original was not kept. The action scenes are cursed with awkward camera angles and visual blurring, making these scenes confusing at best and damn annoying at worst. I don't know if this was some kind of "artistic" experiment, or if there just wasn't any room on the budget for detailed, extended action scenes (again, since this is a Roger Corman production, it's almost definitely the latter).

Also a lot more camp and alleged humor is injected into the movie, as if the series' stereotypical comic book action style mixed with softcore eroticism wasn't enough. Some scenes are generally funny (the aforementioned langerie scene and Aftershock's encounter with the construction workers), others are just as funny as bricks falling on your skull (more black-white jokes than "Def Comedy Jam", and Black Scorpion II will definitely win no prizes for bridging the racial gap, the handful of scenes that seem like live-action re-enactments of "Loony Toons" cartoons (you'll know them when you see them), and just about any scene with the Gangster Prankster and his lackeys). To be fair, though, the Gangster Prankster can be amusing, but only if you take the most liberal definition of that word.

All in all, still a fun film, but with a fair share of terrible action scenes and an often annoying villain. But if you liked the first one, it's fairly safe to say this one may appeal to you too.


Scenes To See:

-The langerie scene

-More flying pigs! (Next on "Maury": Superheroes who kill cops, but can still make puns about it.)

-I wonder if Baman ever thought about doing that to the Joker...

Cast Connections

For the returning cast, go to the other review

Tom Cruise fans (though I seriously doubt any of them read this site) will recognize Whip Hubley (the new Michael Russo), who played Hollywood in Top Gun.

Laura Herring (Mayor Worth's slutty assistant Babette) will appear in Mulholland Drive, an upcoming David Lynch film.