What Not To Watch: The Circuit 2

As I sat down to watch The Circuit 2, I paused for a moment as I recalled I was not a fan of the original film. But at the same time I didn’t quite remember what it was about the original that rubbed me the wrong way. It certainly couldn’t be because I had watched too many movies about underground fighting circuits leading up to viewing The Circuit… because by my estimation there is no such thing as watching too many movies about underground fighting circuits.

I then directed my attention to the Bulletproof Action archives and searched for my review of 2002’s The Circuit… the review featured a mean spirited intro and some complaining about there not being enough of Billy Drago and Loren Avedon. I really seemed to be bothered by the inclusion of a backhoe in the movie and I pointed out a cringe worthy dinner scene between Olivier Gruner’s Dirk Longstreet and Dirk’s lady love, Nicole.

Even with some of my repressed memories of The Circuit coming back after reading my review, I still made the decision to push forward and press play on The Circuit 2…

• Suicide Hotline: The movie opens up with a college student named Dermot on the roof of one the buildings at the university threatening to jump after he was accused of raping a female student. Dermot knows what an accusation like that, even if it was false, can do to a person’s reputation and figures his life is over. But Dermot is willing to speak to his coach, Dirk Longstreet (Olivier Gruner). Dirk gets the call and rushes over to see if he can’t talk Dermot down… Dirk gets the job done and Dermot is handed over to the authorities where he is promptly thrown in prison… no trial for the rape charges, no psychiatric evaluation for his suicide attempt… just throw him in prison.

• Prisoner of Love: Speaking of prison, Dirk’s girlfriend, reporter Nicole Kent (Gail Thackray) has been working on a story centering around the Ogden Correctional Institution and a fighting circuit that is being run inside by the warden. These illegal fights often end up with the loser being killed and the prison covering up the deaths by saying they were gunned down while trying to escape the prison. Nicole is on a stakeout near the prison, with a perfect view of the prison yard where the illegal fights are taking place. Armed with her trusty notebook and camcorder, Nicole is documenting the fights as they unfold, but then some of the prison guards spot her on the security cameras and shut Nicole down. Worse the guards take Nicole inside the prison where she is violently raped by the prison’s top fighter, a massive brute named Pike. When Pike is done with Nicole the guards take her body and dump it.

• She’s Still Alive: The police find Nicole’s body and by some miracle she survived, however the massive trauma she endured has put her in a coma. As you might imagine Dirk is feeling all sorts of things (whether you can tell or not)… anger… sadness… and confusion. The confusion stems from the fact that Nicole was really tight lipped about the story she had been working on, to the point even her newspaper editor boss Max (Lorenzo Lamas, Renegade) has no idea what Nicole was up to. But if Dirk knew what her story was about, he might get some idea about who the hell attacked Nicole. Max calls in friend/IT expert Bill (played by Jalal Merhi, who was also the director). Bill spews a bunch of computer jargon out of his mouth and eventually gets into Nicole’s computer and it is filled with files on Ogden.

• Behind Bars: The table has been set… a plan is hatched to get Dirk, who before his days as a college professor was himself a circuit fighter, inside the prison. But first a massively long training montage takes place and that’s when I realized this is the point of the movie where business should pick up. But instead my interest in seeing Olivier Gruner do what he does best (kick some ass) plummeted. Instead of the energy level going up and up and up… the movie just plodded along. By the time we get to the Dirk vs. Pike final fight… which doesn’t take place in the prison, but instead it takes place on the beach at night (a cold night) so wealthy people can wager on and enjoy the illegal fights, I was begging for the credits to roll and cursing myself for watching the sequel to a movie that I couldn’t stand.

Nobody is going to classify Olivier Gruner, Lorenzo Lamas or Jalal Merhi as great actors. But all three men have starred in action movies that could be classified as entertaining. So it is painful to see these direct to video action heroes in a movie like The Circuit 2 that is clearly not entertaining.

I will now go on record and state that I will never watch The Circuit 3 (yes they inexplicably made another), but I will share some Bonus Bullet Points with you…

• AKA: The Circuit 2 is also known as The Circuit 2: The Final Punch, despite the fact that there was a third movie made so it was in fact NOT the final punch.
• Familiar Faces: Gary Hudson of Martial Outlaw and The Force fame, played the head prison guard in the film… Billy Blanks’ brother, Michael Blanks played Dirk’s cellmate in prison, Black Jack. I remembered Michael Blanks from the movie Dragon Fire.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Olivier Gruner propose to a woman in a coma AND answer yes for her, then The Circuit 2 is for you.
• Alias: When Dirk Longstreet goes undercover in prison, he uses the alias Jim Morrison.
• Appropriate Quote: “I know I’m not perfect, but at least I’m trying” – Dirk Longstreet