Indio 2 - La rivolta

My review was written in May 1991 after a Cannes Film Festival Market screening.

With "Indio 2 -The Revolt", Italy provides an entertaining exploitation film with a message. Action specialist Antonio Margheriti reveals that a litle gore nevver hurt a social conscience tract (see Gillo Pontecorvo's "Burn").

Ex-boxing champ Marvelous Marvin Hagler had a character part as a marine sergeant helpin Francesco Quinn in the original pic. Quinn's character, a Brazilian Italian who's a U. S. marine, is killed at the beginning of the sequel, and Hagler (taking over the central role) vows revenge.

Hagler's line readings are flat, but his physical presence and ingratiating clowning are in context. After topically reciting the story of "Spartacus" to the Amazon Indians, he leads them cleverly in pitched battles with heinous South African villain Vincent Van Eyck (Dirk Galuba). Van Eyck is dropping acid defoliants on the forest and people alike while using the Indians as slave labor to clear the road for his mining company.

Sluggishly paced, film climaxes after an hour with explosions and a battle victory for the Indians. Remainder of the pic is repetitious though Hagler's mao-a-mano fight in an explosion pool of mud (straight out of Henri-Georges Clousot's classic "Wages of Fear") is worth waiting for. Margheriti's patented pyrotechnic scenes are also a plus.

Oddball cast is okay, with Filipino beauty Tethie Abayayni looking a shade too glamorous as Quinn's widow. Widescreen lensing in Borneo, Brazil, Argentina and the Philippines is above average for an Italian-produced actioner.

Smashing sequel to the comparatively lame Indio (which had neat explosions and little else), Indio 2 is a fitting final offering from one of the finest action directors in history, Antonio Margheriti. Although Marvelous Marvin Hagler's performance in rough around the edges and the film gets off to a slow start, things really pick up when all the Amazon tribes unite to fight off Charles Napier and his evil corporation complete with an army of trained mercenaries. Awesome explosion effects and a show-stopping finale I'd compare to the siege sequence in ZULU DAWN. Some juicy gore effects thrown in as well, I just wish they would have thought of a less tacky way to kill off Francesco Quinn's character (without him being in the movie) than they did. Much like Lamberto Bava's underrated film BLASTFIGHTER, the film throws all the right punches at just the right moments, and turns into a very enjoyable viewing experience. Grand entertainment, it even manages to out-do THE EMERALD FOREST, which it rips off on a few occasions. Unlike John Boorman, Margheriti knows how to make an action scene work. Definitely worth a rental or two.

This is one of those rare sequels that's better than the original. That's not to say it's a work of art - it definitely isn't - but it's fun, and sometimes that's not enough. It does start off a little dull, but then the action - explosions, gunfire, fights - comes in steadily, bloodily, and excitingly! The climatic action scene is a wow!

A lot of fun, though it's not perfect - for one thing, there's a problem with the lead. He looks and moves great, but his enunciation is so bad, it's sometimes hard to figure out what he's saying. Also, you have to wonder why they spent a few extra bucks for Charles Napier if they only use him for 2 minutes. Maybe they wanted to compare the INDIO films to the RAMBO films - after all, Brian Dennehy appears in the first movie of each series, and Napier appears in the second of each series!

I must be getting soft in my old age. Indio 2 is an objectively terrible film, but I enjoyed it. In this context, a "5" rating means: "Hey, this wasn't as awful as I expected!"

Apparently, I'm not alone in my positive assessment of this film. As of 2024, ten million people have watched Indio 2 on YouTube. (Or at least, one person has watched it ten million times, ha.) It can't be *that* obscure or universally hated.

Of course, Indio 2 is obscure in my home country of the United States, because (most) Americans are uninterested in foreign films and can't wait to make fun of them for having lower budgets. And yet, I'd argue that Indio 2 isn't that much cheesier than 1980s Hollywood fare like Commando. Also, Americans really ought to take an interest in this film, because it stars Marvelous Marvin Hagler - arguably the greatest middleweight boxing champion ever! What a bizarre novelty.

The bad news is, Hagler can't act. His line deliveries are so flat, he makes Arnold Schwarzenegger sound like Laurence Olivier. BUT Hagler still has a great physique and a likeable screen presence. Besides, nobody else in this movie can act except for the villain, so he's in good company.

The plot, meanwhile, reminds me of old Star Trek and Doctor Who episodes - you know, the ones where Captain Kirk or the Doctor inspire an exploited population to rebel against a colonizing force. In the case of Indio 2, Hagler leads a local tribe in battle against an Evil Mining Corporation that is destroying huge sections of rainforest and forcing the native population into slave labor.

This plot makes Indio 2 rather trendy, since it wears it anti-capitalist heart on its sleeve. They ought to screen this thing at Bernie Sanders rallies. That said, this film doesn't really make grand political statements; it's content with settling its big issues through a series of gun battles and Enormous Explosions.

The first Indio has a similar plot, making this a virtual remake. Story-wise, the original film holds together better than this largely pointless sequel. However, Indio 2 features superior action scenes and a much larger role for Hagler. So, if you can only watch one of these turkeys, I heartily recommend this one!

What's more, Indio 2 contains one of the greatest "WTF" moments in cinema history, when Hagler gets into a vicious brawl with a middle-aged madam/arms dealer named Mama Lou. I'd argue that Mama Lou gives Hagler the toughest fight of his entire career. If you thought his epic clash with Tommy Hearns was violent, prepare yourself for something far more brutal. (Hint: metal teeth are involved.)

That part alone makes Indio 2 worth checking out. The battle scene at the end is pretty exciting, too. This may sound like faint praise, but I've seen much worse and much cheaper movies than this. Marvelous Marvin was onto a winner here. And I bet you Sugar Ray Leonard is super jealous, because he sure isn't in any cool Italian action movies.