BrickNash China O' Brien II picks up where the first film left off and it's almost literally more of the same which means TV movie quality plot and acting interspersed with some martial arts action.As a film it's certainly not the worst ever made and it's about as solidly entertaining as any episode of Columbo or Walker Texas Ranger. As with the first one where the film excels is the fight scenes which are dynamic and very well choreographed with some brilliant OTT sound effects.The film's plot centres around some bog standard pap about an escaped convict terrorising the town and in that it makes some mistakes. As with the first film, the main bad guy is an older dude with no fighting skills whatsoever and so there is really no final threat or showdown, just a big free for all brawl involving loads of people.It would have been nice to have China go up against another female martial artist hench(wo)man or even a female villain with fighting skills. Even a bog standard martial arts villain would have done but alas no.Still in saying that, watching China beat the s-h-i-t out of endless waves of plaid shirted goons is satisfying enough although the story:fight ratio is a little off in favour of the "boring" bits.Still, as thin as the plot is it's executed well enough to keep the pace going and fans won't be disappointed by the highly satisfying action one bit. One for the collection!

Leofwine_draca Set two years after the first film in the series, this cheap and cheerfully brainless chop-socky adventure has all you'd ever want from a B-grade martial arts flick: a ton o' action, lots of hulking henchmen and other assorted goons, some painful emoting on the part of the unknown cast, and slick direction. The latter comes from Robert Clouse, the man who directed the first and also ENTER THE DRAGON in his heyday, and he still knows how to shoot a decent fight scene.The plot is as insubstantial as it is unbelievable. China gets involved in a murderous plot by an escaped criminal, who we see at the beginning of the film bumping off all the people who took him down (my favourite death is the judge's, a hilarious magic-trick-gone-wrong jape). There are lots of stand-offs and various fight scenes until the massive climax, in which the massive gang of bad guys TAKE OVER THE WHOLE TOWN, leaving the heroes of the movie to take them on. That's the kind of climax I like! Imagine ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, except that the good guys leave the police station and beat the hell out of the baddies instead – that's what I love to see.The central trio of martial artists return, very much unchanged, from the original film; hell, they even wear the same costumes! Rothrock kicks ass with relish and seems even more supple and athletic than before, performing lots of flips and gymnastic stunts in mid-air. Norton is the heavy-hitter who whacks the hell out of anybody who comes close, while Keith Cooke continues to channel the fighting spirit of Bruce Lee. Harlow Marks is another craggy villain, and lots of the henchmen from the first film return as more goons waiting to get beaten up. What's amazing is how many people (including Cooke) went on to star in MORTAL KOMBAT movies after making this flick… anyway, I digress. Muscleman Billy Blanks also pops up as a badly-dressed '80s baddie who gets his ass whupped in an alleyway, although my favourite fight scene is between Rothrock and the Chinese guy with the Freddy Krueger gloves. Way to go! Sure, CHINA O'BRIEN II makes for lowbrow entertainment, of interest only to fans of B-grade action flicks who know exactly what they're getting themselves in for. I did, and I loved every minute; I can't help but feel that the time is ripe for a "twenty years later" third film in the trilogy, rounding up Rothrock, Cooke and Norton for a final slice of small-town ass-kicking. We can but dream.

Joseph P. Ulibas China O'Brien (1991) was immediately went into production after the first film. The first on was enjoyable and it was a hoot to see Cynthia Rothrock kick major butt in an English language film. But the sequel was not as good and it's more of the same for Clouse and Company. Robert Clouse at this point in his career was riding high on the success of his greatest film Enter the Dragon. Ever since that film, he's been trying to duplicate the same formula. But like they always say, lightning never strikes twice and Clouse has been trying to recapture the magic.Rothrock is a phenomenal fighter and performer. This is her show and her fight scenes are a sight to behold. Sadly the rest of the film isn't as fun, the direction plods along and the script is nothing to brag about.For Rothrock fans only.

dee.reid International female Karate sensation Cynthia Rothrock has never made a perfect movie in her 20+ years as a high-kicking, "B"-movie martial arts maverick. In all likelihood, especially now in today's time, it doesn't seem like she'll ever make a "perfect movie." Of course, for the longest time she was probably the most well-known female American martial arts champion to make a name for herself in the movies. "China O'Brien II" is a sequel to the 1990 first film, and has Rothrock returning as the title character, the sheriff of a small Midwestern town who has to deal with an escaped convict who has ridden into town and puts a price on her head when she foils his latest drug scheme. Together with a fellow Karate champ (Richard Norton) and an Indian biker ("Reptile" Keith Cooke), they set about making sure the bad guys get the proper punishment. "China O'Brien II" has three things going for it that really make it even worth viewing as a rental: Rothrock, director Robert Clouse, and producer Raymond Chow; the names Robert Clouse and Raymond Chow should be ringing bells because they collaborated in 1973 on the greatest martial arts movie ever made, "Enter the Dragon," which starred the late, great martial artist to top them all off, Bruce Lee. With such a collaboration behind "China O'Brien II," you wouldn't expect cinematic gold like "Enter the Dragon," but you would expect something better than what we get here. Rothrock is not a particularly good actress (and neither are many of the other performers, I'm sorry), but I guess her biggest saving grace are her phenomenal fighting skills, and that is when she (and the film as a whole) is at her best. With such strong talent involved in the production of this film, "China O'Brien II" probably would not have become a classic, but it could have been something much more memorable.3/10