Bullet Points: Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball
Prior to Cannon anointing him the American Ninja, Michael Dudikoff’s filmography skewed heavily towards comedic projects… guest spots on Happy Days, a supporting role in Bachelor Party and even as a regular on the short lived sitcom, Star of the Family. In fact, when Dudikoff landed the role of Joe Armstrong in 1985’s American Ninja, some people who knew him couldn’t help but say, “Dudi does action!?!”
1996’s Bounty Hunters and the subject of this edition of Bullet Points, 1997’s Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball, allowed Dudi to flex both his action and comedic muscles as fugitive recovery agent, Jersey Bellini…
- High Noon Showdown: The movie starts off in an unexpected way as we see Jersey and his partner B.B. (Lisa Howard) in western wear (remember when that was in style?) making their way towards three mean hombres. Was this the Back to the Future III of the Bounty Hunters franchise? Nope, apparently Jersey got himself and B.B. spots on a western movie and 40+ takes later it is clear they are better recovery agents than they are movie cowboys/cowgirls. B.B. is embarrassed and annoyed by Jersey’s side hustle plan for the partners/couple.
- Diamonds Aren’t a Girl’s Best Friend: Now we get to see Jersey and B.B. doing their thing and recovering a ne’er-do-well by the name of Bass… and when they track him down, they find him as the getaway driver for a jewelry heist that is about to go down. Jersey just wants to scoop up Bass and get paid, but B.B. feels obligated to get involved.. she tells Jersey to call the cops and she is going in. Jersey calls the cops, but instead of going in to assist B.B. he sees his chance to neutralize Bass and he takes it. Then he hops in the driver’s seat of the getaway van… so after B.B. takes out on of the thieves and runs the other two off, those two make their way to the getaway van… which means Jersey now has three bad guys he can deliver to the police. Meanwhile the owner of the jewelry store pulls a gun on B.B. (apparently he was in on the heist) and the cops show up and take her in.
- Gimme a Break: B.B. has gone from being annoyed with Jersey to plain ol’ pissed off at him. When they get home, B.B. starts packing her things… she needs some time away from Jersey and this odd life he has created for the two of them. There are bigger problems for Jersey on the horizon, the whole jewelry store heist that didn’t happen screws up the plans of an up and comer in the world of organized crime, Peter Carlos (Steve Bacic, The 6th Day)… Carlos’ failure has his superiors, including Mr. Wald (Tony Curtis, Tarzan in Manhattan) questioning if Carlos can be given more responsibility in the criminal underworld, something Carlos desperately craves. So in order to prove his worth, Carlos’ goal is now to eliminate Jersey Bellini!
- Ka-Boom!: Carlos hires known explosives expert Teddy Tyler to BLOW UP Jersey Bellini… a definitive way to kill someone for sure. So Tyler rigs Jersey’s house to blow up… but bad reception on a phone call causes Jersey to step outside at just the right moment and saving his ass in the process… good thing he didn’t have more reliable service… Meanwhile, B.B. has struck out on her own and the bad guy she has been assigned to recover is none other than… Teddy Tyler! Which means B.B. and Jersey’s paths are about to cross once again.
- Bounty Hunters vs. Gangsters: B.B. may still be pissed at Jersey, but when it is obvious that someone is out to kill him, she is right back at his side… which puts her in danger too. The two bounty hunters end up camping out in the woods, before they find out about a meeting with Peter Carlos, Mr. Wald and the other mafia bosses that is set to take place the next day at an abandoned warehouse. What nobody but Carlos and his right hand man Santos know, is Teddy Tyler has rigged the warehouse to explode per Carlos’ request in a move to make Peter Carlos THE mob boss in town. What follows is Jersey getting himself captured, backstabbing mobsters, a roof top fight and B.B. operating some heavy machinery in the explosive finale!
Maybe it is recency bias, but Bounty Hunters 2 felt like a sequel that actually improved upon the original (which wouldn’t be the first time Michael Dudikoff pulled that off). Tony Curtis added a little extra star power that the original did not have, but to me it is the chemistry between Dudikoff and Lisa Howard that made this movie really hum building upon the relationship that was established between the two in the original. Plus, Dudi with the charisma and personality turned way up is a joy to watch. I am actually surprised there weren’t more Bounty Hunters movies made or even a spin off TV series.
Let me spin this review off into some Bonus Bullet Points…
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Michael Dudikoff fight some guys in a car wash, then Bounty Hunters 2 is the movie for you. Side note: Hot wax is an effective weapon!
- Familiar Face: Garry Chalk was back as Wasser, the boss of B.B. and Jersey. I most recently saw Chalk in the TNT original movie, Shutterspeed!
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Lisa Howard in dominatrix gear, then Bounty Hunters 2 is the movie for you.
