The Circuit 2: The Final Punch (2003)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Better Late Then Never

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The B-movie snob in me claims that ever since Isaac Florentine released his UNDISPUTED sequels, there's really no reason to branch into other prison fight flicks. Such snootiness was probably justified for the below-average Olivier Gruner vehicle THE CIRCUIT, but less so when it comes to that one's sequel. THE CIRCUIT 2 makes a genuine effort to address the shortcomings of its predecessor and is definitely the better movie, though its considerable faults will probably make it a waste of time for viewers who aren't already fans of the low-budget fight scene. Gruner fans ought to definitely investigate.The story: When his significant other pays dearly for investigating an organized prison fighting circuit, the returning Dirk Longstreet (Gruner) goes undercover as an inmate to break the secret to the world…and exact revenge.As far as prison flicks go, this one is pretty tame, with minimal exploitation and even a noticeable lack of outright brutality when it comes to the brawls. The utilization of the cast is likewise a soft touch: in addition to Olivier, the lineup's comprised of B-grade butt-kickers Lorenzo Lamas, Jalal Merhi, Michael Blanks, Shaun Benjamin, and Gary Hudson, and while Lamas, Blanks, and Hudson mix it up physically, they're definitely not being used to their fullest extent. Blanks' involvement is particularly disappointing, because he's set up as a strong supporting character but ends up not doing more than fighting. The storyline is straight-forward but still has time for the occasional fruitless detour and goofiness: warden Benjamin impresses on Gruner his need to have a dominant white champion to appease the supposedly racist audience, but this never seems to be an issue, and later there's an unintentionally humorous scene wherein Gruner engages in an hours-long foot chase with the main fighter (Jim Shagen).There's a *lot* of fighting in this movie: only counting the fights that last at least ten seconds brings me to 21 separate brawls. Their quality is a major step up from the abortive scraps of the original feature, with an admirable variety of fighting styles on display, some choreographic highlights, and a satisfying scene wherein Gruner and Lorenzo Lamas team up to fight some thugs in a parking lot (it's a funny juxtaposition wherein Olivier is clearly giving his all but Lamas dispatches opponents with customary ease). Gruner looks legitimately skilled and powerful, like a UFC competitor, and faces a unique roster of opponents including a high-kicking Larnell Stovall and a whip-wielding Robert Chapin. Nevertheless, I can't point to a single encounter as an objectively great fight. Many of them are one-sided, and even moments of directorial ambitiousness are diluted by poor camera-work and editing. The film climaxes with a tournament, but it's meaningless because most of the matches are over so quickly that you hardly have enough time to distinguish between the fighters.Still, I give the cumulative package a passing score, and with the final installment to the CIRCUIT trilogy unlikely to receive a North American release, we can at least say that the west's exposure to the franchise ended on a decent note. Fight fans can easily bear it on a slow night, and fans who enjoy Olivier's work mainly for the kickboxing ought to be happy with this. Don't go out of your way for this one, but don't give it the cold shoulder, either.

Just, don't do it. This movie should come with a warning; "Contains Lorenzo Lamas, may cause herpes". I used to like Oliver Grunner, he was never a big star, never seemed destined to be one. But he was good for some fancy kicks, and ridiculous plots that gave birth to severe @$$ whoopings. After seeing this, I hate him. I already hated Lorenzo Lamas and even if you don't, even if you're one of those people that still claims "Renegade" was a good show... You won't be able to handle this. The acting is horrid, the writing is horrid, the everything is horrid. This is the kind of movie they should force people to watch as part of interrogation, though, thinking about that, I think it would be more humane to water board someone. This movie is so bad it decreased my sperm count.

Olivier Gruner, world kick-boxing champion, is at it again in this sequel to The Circuit. I think 3 characters repeat from the original; otherwise, it's a sequel in name only, as its story has nothing to do with where the first one left off. Gruner is still Dirk Longstreet, a college physical education guru, who gets involved in, what else, another low budget circuit with bad acting. This time he goes behind bars to find out what happened to his girlfriend from the first movie. That plot thread is badly handled, and it merely serves as an excuse for us to watch a host of fighters engaging in after hours money fights for the benefit of the warden, etc. Gruner shows off some impressive skills while beating a succession of fighters to a pulp during the fights. The only problem is none of them are worthy opponents. The only two who would be are left with none fighting roles: Lorenzo Lamas is wasted as a reporter that gets Gruner into the prison and Gary Hudson is also wasted as a sadistic prison guard. Director Jalal Merhi again plays Bill the reporter for a total of about 5 minutes. Forget the ridiculous plot in here and enjoy the almost none-stop barrage of fighting, some of it brutal. Gruner looks like a much better fighter in this one than in the original, but the ending is again not that satisfying. * of 4 stars.

I have liked Olivier Gruner since his "Angel Town", and have enjoyed, if nothing else, his physical performances and skills over the years. I have also liked Jalel Merhi's pictures, at times, and he, himself is no martial arts slouch. However, in "the Circuit 2", somebody went to sleep in the cutting room. First,it's not well directed, and it appears choppy and disorganized. Loose ends abound. The killing of Nicole took forever, and was bad theatre in the story's context. I mean she was assaulted, raped and in a coma, and one murder squad had already been deflected. The second attempt, only mentioned not confirmed, seemed unlikely, now that hospital and police were alerted and on guard since the first attempt. The denoument at site of the big last fight did not make a lot of sense to me--unless we're going to see "The Circuit 3" Lorenzo Lamas was misused, and what newspaperman goes on police raids armed and shooting? C'mon, Jalel, you can do better.