Somehow this film escaped me for many years, but awhile back I finally decided to check it out. I was expecting your average C-level martial arts film, which in some ways it is, but in many ways it is a clear standout in one of the most looked down upon genres. From the director of "Lionheart" and "Double Impact" comes your typical plot line of the teacher in a bad neighborhood who must fight the drug dealers from taking over his impressionable students. But in this version of that tired story-line, he fights the drug lords with the acrobatic martial art known as capoeira. Think "Stand and Deliver" meets the fighter that always dies with capoeira in tournament martial arts movies.
The film stars Mark Dacascos ("Cradle 2 The Grave" and "Iron Chef" TV fame) and he does a surprisingly good job of portraying his stereotypical role and using an extremely hard to master martial art. His love interest is rather pointless, and the little brats he teaches capoeira to can be somewhat annoying, but this film is a step above your typical early 90's action flick. There is a certain life and character to this film that the other dull films don't have. The brazilian villain is also one of the most ridiculous characters of all time. I would like to rate this as one of the dark horses of the 90's action genre.
*3 Lance Approvals*
Lance is almost shown up here as one of the most over the top villains.
"Hey look at this, the childrens are back from the playGROUUUUUUUND"
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