CAGE II: ARENA OF DEATH flounders hopelessly in its bid to stretch the 1989 Lou Ferrigno vehicle CAGE into an action franchise. This tepid rehash of a negligible original might easily have been conceived and executed by the wrestlers themselves: any unruly plot point or character
inconvenience is merely body-slammed into the canvas, and brawn wins over brains as a matter of course.
Billy Thomas (Ferrigno), a gentle giant in the manner of OF MICE AND MEN's Lenny, is looked after by his best friend and caretaker Scott (Reb Brown). One day at their local bodega, they are challenged by a gang of Tong thugs, members of a black-pajama-clad Asian crime organization known as the
Black Hand, who subdue Billy and leave Scott for dead. Billy is taken to the compound of crimelord Tin Lum Yin (James Shigeta), who intends to make him his star fighter in the no-holds-barred, free-form sparring matches he mounts for public exhibition. These are conducted in an ominous,
fully-enclosed wire-mesh cage, before a live audience of uptown swells, and broadcast worldwide on a private Pay-Per-View cable frequency. Stoked with a potent steroids-like toxic drug which encourages his innate aggression, Billy easily becomes the resident cage champion. He now mistakenly looks
upon Tin Lum Yin as his benefactor, performing to capacity to ensure his constant favor. But when the drug begins to cause paralyzing migraines, and may be doing him irreparable damage, the young beauty assigned to soothe the savage beast tries to show him that his new friends mean him harm.
Meanwhile, Scott, still very much alive, concocts an elaborate plan to liberate his friend. Enlisting the help of two wizened martial arts masters, Tanake (Leo Fong) and Chin (James Lew), Scott trains to join the fight circuit, hoping he'll be able to confront Billy in person. By the time Scott
(disguised in a ridiculous hairpiece and fake handlebar mustache) works his way up to facing his friend in the ring, dope-addled Billy has mopped the canvas with any number of wily pugilists, kickboxers, and martial arts champions who have been sent up against him. Billy manages to overcome the
effects of the drug, and the two old friends embrace in an emotional clinch off the ropes, disgusting the fight fans in attendance. Between the two of them and Scott's parlous elders, they quickly overpower the Black Hand, deposing Yin and his henchmen, and dismantling their broadcast empire.
From his heyday as the Incredible Hulk, Lou Ferrigno has anticipated the career paths of many of the world's top-dollar entertainment icons--Stallone, Norris, Van Damme, Schwarzenegger--without ever sharing in their terrific success. Originally a body-builder, and more an old-school wrestler in
both demeanor and persona than his more famous hard-bodied progeny, Ferrigno seems helpless in this new streamlined age of plastic action heroes; he's like a walking cartoon in a brave new world of animatronics. As a result, the cuddly behemoth on display seems to lack the fundamental menace
necessary in the clinch. In CAGE II, this effect is heightened by the rather disturbing use of Vietnam flashbacks, which seeks to excuse Ferrigno's thick, stuttering speech style--the product of congenital deafness--as some sort of combat-related mental trauma or borderline brain damage.
The honor medalists of today's blockbuster army live by their speed, agility, and wits. And the tactical decision here to curtail all three just turns the lovable Lou into one of those lumbering dinosaurs who sit idly by, while sprier mammals devour their eggs. (Violence, nudity, profanity.) leave a comment
