A Sequel that made it worth going back and watching the original for contrast. This is Black Mask II: City of Masks, a 2002 Film that I have covered before. That was so 11 years ago though. So, if you read the last Review, you'll recall that Black Mask was the codename for 'Johnny' who was part of the 701 Squad, a group of Super-Soldiers. He reluctantly defeated/killed his old Squad when they broke bad and was leaving Hong Kong to get a cure for his condition. Well, he's not in Hong Kong, but that's the only thing they kept! The man behind the camera is Tsui Hark, which could be a good sign. Jet Li is gone- for various reasons- and a newcomer is the Lead. To help carry the load, we've got ex-Wrestlers, current Wrestlers and other large people. We've also got pre-Saw (and Boogeyman 2) Tobin Bell and a pre-Super Capers Jon Polito are here too. Oh yeah, Traci Lords to boot! The randomness of the Cast leads to a few weird things. For instance, Andrew Bryniarski (most famous for being Leatherface in the Remakes) and Tyler Mane (most notable for being Michael Meyers in the Remakes) appear together. In addition, you get Andrew (who played Zangief in Street Fighter) alongside Rob Van Dam (who is named after Jean Claude Van Damme). The Plot here is, well, ridiculous. I'll get into the insanity right away, so just enjoy these cheek bones and read on...
When we last left Black Mask, he was leaving Hong Kong for his cure.
Now he's...been created by some Super Brain Creatures/Aliens and they want him back?
The hell?!?
Mask is going to Geneticists to get a cure for his condition, which is the one thing they actually kept.
The Henchman- Scott Adkins in his best Dr. Wiley getup- kill the Doctor, but Mask escapes...for now.
Now forget all of that Plot and focus on the on with the Wrestlers.
Yep, the main Plot vanishes for the next hour (I timed it).
I know- I'm surprised too, Rob!
The Boss- Bell- and the Promoter- Polito- are giving strange drugs to their Wrestlers.
Iguana- Bryniarski- transforms into a full-on lizard man and attacks his next opponent, before attacking the crowd like a reptilian Bruiser Brody.
Mask shows up to stop him, saving the opponent's Son, but looking like he killed Iguana (who actually just fell to his death).
He continues to experiment on them after paying them off not to complain.
One of them- Lords- vows revenge on Mask and has now gone full chameleon, meaning that she is now a badly-rendered 'invisible' sprite for most of the Film now.
Mask tries to get help for his condition from a new Scientist, who has a weird condition that makes her body seize up when Men touch her. I'd explain why, but...it's not worth it.
She wants to help him, which is good...because he just got injected with MORE transformative liquid...
The Wrestlers mutate more as well, with them all reaching the forms you'd expect. Snake becomes a Snake, while Wolf becomes a Wolf.
Others make less sense, like Thorn growing into a black creature covered in spikes and RVD's 'Claw' becoming...this guy.
Their plans to get nuclear material to help them fail, so they go to their back-up plan.
But wait- who's this?!?
It's Adkins, literally reappearing after an hour away. He's now taking over the group and planning to unleash a bomb that will mutate everyone.
The finale is a chaotic one as Mask fights random Henchmen, plus Adkins and a few of the Wrestlers at different points.
The kid and the Scientist fight someone else, while Lords' Character Arc ends with her death.
Adkins ultimately goes down and the bomb is stopped. In the aftermath, he rides off with the Scientist and he's been cured...I guess. The End.
A weird, silly Film. The whole concept here is just kind of odd for several reasons. A Mad Scientist is using Pro-Wrestlers as his test subjects. Why? Why do it in the first place? Secondly, we have the whole Retcon of Black Mask's origin. Does it pay off? Not really. We don't find out about his 'creators' here- they just send Adkins out to get him. Why do all that without a good reason? The draw here is the silly Fight Scenes and the Special Effects. On the plus side, there's even more than in the last Film. On the negative side, they are even sillier and less realistic than in the last Film too. That slight delay when people flip or land is there ALOT in this one. On top of that, the use of CGI is prevalent and boy is it dated. They try to transition all of the time from genuinely-good Practical Make-Up Effects to blurry CGI. It doesn't work. I appreciate how the Film 'goes for it' with the crazy monsters and everything. It just doesn't work as a cohesive Story and is just a series of crazy Scenes. You can have fun with it, but don't expect anything genuinely-good. So not counting the Wrestlers I already mentioned (like RVD and Mane), there may be one more...
Next up, I go Old School with the 'Black' theme. Which Classic Horror Film Actor will I feature next? Stay tuned...
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