Danger Zone II Reviews

An ultraviolent--and ultrasexist--biker epic set for the most part in the Arizona desert, DANGER ZONE II is steeped in biker lore and southwestern mysticism. Unfortunately, DANGER ZONE II's virtues, both as a genuinely offbeat adventure and as a well-crafted action thriller, are negated by the film's emphasis on sexual violence and the underdeveloped, curiously uninvolving conflict at its core. Briefly to recap the first DANGER ZONE: a drug-pushing motorcycle gang led by Reaper (Robert Random) kidnaps a busload of beauty pageant contestants, setting off the conflict between Reaper and Wade Olson (Jason Williams), the undercover cop who brings him to justice. As DANGER ZONE II begins, Reaper has been freed from prison on a technicality and has kidnaped Wade's girl friend (Jane Higginson) to lure him into a confrontation. DANGER ZONE II comes so close to being a solidly engaging action-adventure on its own terms that its push-button porno violence seems not just ugly and stupid, but incongruous. The sexism is particularly disappointing because there are flashes of genuine wit in both the writing and direction, while the cast provides a number of sharp, well-turned performances.