The almighty William Smith stars in this ingratiating action flick from cult filmmaker Andy Sidaris, known to his fans for following an exploitation film formula to the letter. Bill Smith plays Drew Savano, a loose-cannon government agent who recruits a seven-person team for the purpose of eliminating the criminal element that are poised to take over the state of Hawaii. His team includes Alexa (Barbara Leigh, "Junior Bonner"), the Cowboy (Guich Koock, "North Dallas Forty"), T.K. (Christopher Joy, "Sheba, Baby"), Kincella (Art Metrano, "Police Academy" 2 and 3), martial artist Ed Parker ("Curse of the Pink Panther"), playing a man named Ed Parker, and the "Professor" (Richard LePore, 'Switch'). Each team member is assigned to a different criminal figure.
Since we're discussing Andy Sidaris here, it hardly needs be said that among the assets involved are beautiful island scenery, equally gorgeous women who sometimes take off their tops, lots of action, and a generous dose of humour to let us know that this is all in fun, and that none of this is ever meant to be taken that seriously.
This viewer personally loves stories of the "assembling characters for a mission" variety, and Drew is there to narrate and therefore talk our way through the plot, giving us essential information. It's quite an engaging example of this sort of story, with excellent pacing and a fair amount of hard-hitting violence. Plus, it's not entirely unrealistic in the way that the mission won't go 100% smoothly.
Bright, sunny photography by a D.P. identified only as "Quito", and a vibrant music score (which may be stock music since there's no composer credited) help to make this superior entertainment. The aforementioned sense of humour extends to the movies' most memorable gag, when a hero eliminates a sword-wielding villain by simply shooting him, the same gag later made famous in "Raiders of the Lost Ark".
A rich assortment of familiar faces - Reggie Nalder ('Salem's Lot' '79), Seth Sakai ('Hawaii Five-O'), Lenny Montana ("The Godfather"), Martin Kove ("The Karate Kid"), Terry Kiser ("Weekend at Bernie's"), John Alderman ("New Year's Evil"), and Tadashi Yamashita ("American Ninja") - further adds to the good vibes.
Classic exploitation entertainment, and one of Sidaris' best efforts.
Eight out of 10.
