Remember the 80s, when movies had cool titles like this?
I (and many fans) consider to this to be Michael Dudikoff's best movie, and my personal favorite of all the ones he's made. AVENGING FORCE features the Dudemeister as former secret agent Matt Hunter, who's best friend (Steve James) is a running for Senate. A white supremacist group called Pentangle doesn't like this and sets out to keep James from winning, ambushing a Mardi Gras parade he's in and killing one of his little boys. Infuriating Dudikoff and James is something you don't want to do, as the bad guys will soon find out. What follows is a pretty standard plot of revenge, but it's handled nicely by director Sam Firstenberg and offers solid action and some unexpected moments along the way. The exciting final reel of the film features Dudikoff and his little sister being hunted in the Louisiana swamps by the Pentangle baddies, a la THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME. Headed by the always-fun to watch John P. Ryan, the group is comprised of some very nasty individuals who delight in hunting the innocent, a sport the group partakes in quite often just for the thrill.
Being that Dudikoff and James were close friends in real life, their screen rapport is very good, and you get the feeling these are two guys who really care about each other and have been through a lot together. Dudikoff is also very good here, playing a character who isn't seemingly indestructible like in AMERICAN NINJA and some of his other films. (Not that I have a problem with him playing those type of parts, but it is nice to seem him do something different occasionally). The beatings he takes from the bad guys in the swamp, particularly the big buffed guy, reminds us that things are serious. The actress who plays Dudikoff's little sister isn't that good of an actress, but she's not too distracting. The parade attack and truck chase/shipyard fight are exciting, as is the final confrontation between Dudikoff and Ryan in the latter's house, another element taken from THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME. I really wish this movie would get a DVD release in at least widescreen and surround sound, because it really deserves it. It's not just a good Dudikoff movie, but a good movie in general.
