Operation Delta Force II: Mayday Reviews

Despite a procession of violent set-tos, OPERATION DELTA FORCE 2 emerges as a sluggish action pic with only the "special forces team" concept in common with its predecessor. Bone-crusher flicks like this one need a star figure in firm command, but top-billed Michael McGrady makes no more of an impression than several of his supporting players. The Kursk, a Russian nuclear submarine in the Bering Sea, is commandeered by master criminal Lukash (J. Kenneth Campbell) in league with Soviet traitors. At the same time, Lukash's partners hijack an ocean liner, planning to use the ship as a shield to prevent another Russian submarine (under authorization of the U.N.) from bombing the Kursk. They are also after the ship's captain, retired Admiral Halsey Lang (Dale Dye), the world's leading expert on nuclear subs. Lukash demands $25 billion in exchange for not striking at America's West Coast and several Russian cities. The meet his goal, Lukash has Admiral Lang transfered to the Kunsk and forces him to assume command of the sub. To stop Lukash, The Pentagon assigns risk-taking Army Captain Skip Lang (Michael McGrady), the estranged son of of the kidnapped Admiral. Skip and his team of special forces soldiers are dropped onto the ship by helicopter; Skip leads the men in regaining control from Lukash's mercenaries. In return for Lukash's promise not to blow up the ocean liner, Admiral Lang agrees to pilot him and the Kursk to his destination, a Russian sub base. Skip next attacks the sub base, and Lukash is wounded in the attack. He returns to the Kursk, where Admiral Lang prevents him from overriding the missiles' fail-safe system. While Skip grapples with Lukash and fatally stabs him, Admiral Lang sends out a Morse Code signal notifying the nearby U.N.-authorized Russian sub that the defused situation no longer necessitates that the Kursk be destroyed. Skip reconciles with his father. In its desire to lend vigor to a strictly S.O.S. storyline, OPERATION DELTA FORCE 2 multiplies its rescue attempts to diminishing returns. Moreover, the screenplay is loaded with happenstance (such as the fact that Admiral Lang's wife and daughter are sailing on his luxury vessel). Aside from scripting detritus, this action-packed time-waster sprawls over so many international settings that viewers will be unsure of where they are at any given time. Although glint-eyed J. Kenneth Campbell enjoys quoting Poe while promising nuclear catastrophes, his co-stars appear to have matriculated at the I'll-Just-Collect-My-Paycheck branch of the Actors' Studio. They lack the wherewithal to elevate this above the level of a standard adventure tale.(Graphic violence, extreme profanity.)