Black Scorpion 2: Aftershock (1996)

Darcy is back on the force, but still fights on as the Black Scorpion in secret because "it's in her nature." This time, she fights Gangster Prankster, and a new villain, Aftershock, emerges when the Mayor tries to protect his federal earthquake relief money. When the two villains team up and kidnap Argyle's girlfriend, Black Scorpion is faced with the theft of the Scorpionmobile and the imminent destruction of Angel City.

REVIEW: Black Scorpion 2: Aftershock, Roger Corman's 1996 follow-up to his 1995 low budget dark superhero movie is, sadly, not as good as the first movie, and that one was already not very good. While it's still quite heavy on the cheese, it has less sleaze and everything in it makes even less sense. There's actually a scene where the title "hero" is being chased by two cops, who are just doing their job in chasing her, and she outright blows them up and kills them...AND it's played up as a joke!? WHAT TF!?

This time around, like with most superhero movies, there's two main villains, a Joker/Two-Face combination called Gangster Prankster, and a female baddie of which the movie is named after called Aftershock, neither of which is very interesting. Add to that the fight scenes and action scenes are even worse than the already-horrible ones in the first movie, made even worse still by this annoying and weird "fast-forward" type effect applied to them.

Everything about this movie feels like it was shot on an unfinished first draft script, in about 3 days, with every scene being done in the first take. The first movie was low budget as hell, don't get me wrong, but this one feels even more-so, and it actually makes the title hero impossible to like, while she goes up against two boring, and at times very annoying, super villains.

There are some legit funny moments though, and Joan Severance as the title character does a good job, even if her character is unlikable in this entry, and a couple of the side characters remain genuinely well-acted and charming. 

In addition, I'm actually interested in checking out the short-lived one-season TV Series continuation of these movies, so they must have done something right here. I just can't figure out for the life of me what that was. 

3/10 rooms in the Psych Ward