C.I.A. II: Objectif Alexa

The first C.I.A. film was a hoot - an O. J. Simpson starring actioner filled with hard-hitting fight scenes - but this undistinguished sequel is a big step down. Gone is director Joseph Merhi, to be replaced by Lorenzo Lamas who can barely act let alone direct a sufficiently exciting action flick. What we're left with is the kind of film you end up forgetting about roughly five minutes after it finishes.

Kathleen Kinmont is back as the tough heroine, once more coerced by the government into fighting some nefarious bad guys in her quest for justice. Lamas is now long haired and mooches around in the background. The villains are an uninteresting bunch, aside from warrior woman Lori Fetrick, who gets to engage in some frenetic and hard-hitting bouts with Kinmont.

Elsewhere, the plot is a mess of explosions, grubby fight scenes, and general inanity. Say what you like about Merhi but the guy knows how to shoot tense and hard-hitting fight scenes which are all about the staging. The fights here are by comparison poor indeed, and nothing feels very exciting, just ho hum.