Sister Street Fighter . Weekly Alibi . 12-08-97

Sister Street Fighter

DIRECTED BY: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi

REVIEWED: 12-08-97

This sort-of-sequel really doesn't have anything to do with the Street Fighter series, despite the fact the Sonny Chiba shows up in a few scenes--he doesn't even play Terry Tsurugi (or Tsuguri or whatever variation of that you wanna use)! Martial Arts expert Tina Long is the sister of a missing undercover cop who was trying to bring down a brutal druglord (who wears really funky '70s clothes). Pressed into service by the cops, Tina travels to Hong Kong, where she's supposed to meet another undercover cop, a beautiful woman with a rose tattooed on her thigh. Tina stumbles across her contact at a sleazy topless bar, but before she can get any information, a bunch of hoods attack, trying to kidnap the cop. Tina whips out some fairly average Kung Fu moves in an attempt to save the cop, but to no avail. However, Sonny Chiba (as "Sonny") roars up in his car and kicks the crap out of the bad guys, then drives off with the cop. Meanwhile, the druglord (who has Tina's brother locked in a cell in his basement and is shooting him up with various concoctions) gets wind of Tina's involvement and looks forward to sending his army of Martial Arts killers into action ("Some men play the horses, I collect killers--it's more fun than a carload of gorillas!"). At one point, Tina jumps the druglord's fence and finds herself face-to-face with the evil "Hammerhead," and the two miraculously appear on a cliff overlooking the sea, where they duke it out. I don't know how it happened, I'm just tellin' you what I saw. Things meander along in standard Kung Fu movie fashion, perking up only when the Chiba-reenster leaps into the fray, delivering his patented style of scrunchy-faced ass-kicking. And, as I was afraid would happen, the movie commits the cardinal sin of chicks-kicking-ass movies: Tina is unable to take the druglord and his henchmen out without the help of Sonny. Bad Kung Fu Style, I'm here to tell ya. Some cool things include the lady cop begging for "hairrrrohhhinnnn," a fat guy rubbing on Tina's schoolgirl-uniform-clad cousin (in front of her whimpering dad) and the super-bad guys who wear baskets on their heads, only to inexplicably remove them before every fight. No Street Fighter but, then again, what is? (New Line)

--Scott Phillips

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