Antonio
Margheriti's last, and possibly best film, next to The
Last Hunter is more than worthy of the wide distribution it received.
Boxing legend Marvelous Marvin Hagler stars as an American G. I. who heads
to South America to save the local Indio tribes from being forced into
slave labor by the hands of the dastardly I.M.C. The I.M.C. construction
crew, this time led by South African no-bullshit badass Dirk Galuba, plans
to build a road through the Amazon at all costs. Daniel Morrell ain't
around anymore either, as Galuba is quick to shoot him in the back at the
first possible chance. Hence, Hagler shows up and allies himself with the
native tribes. He teaches them in guerrilla tactics and, despite several
hard spots, eventually accumulates an army of tribesmen large enough to
seriously stand up against the I.M.C. and its army of mercenaries. Lots of
fist fights, shootouts, and awesome miniature explosions later, the film
culminates into one of the most explosively epic battle scenes I've seen
since Zulu Dawn!
Although it does get off to a bit of a slow start, Indio 2 - The Revolt is
definitely a must-see action film. Tons of excellent action sequences,
extremely well-done explosive effects, some of the best camerawork I've
seen in Margheriti's films yet, and a great musical score by Pino Donaggio
(The Barbarians, The
Black Cat). There are a few rather annoying elements to this movie
however. First off - Hagler's performance is strictly amateurish and
second-rate. He stumbles through his dialog unless he yells and screams at
the top of his lungs mouthing some pretty cool dialog, "I'm
doing this for Daniel Morrell, and 'cuz I'm black, MUTHAFUCKA!!!"
Second off, I must mention that the scene in which Morrell dies toward the
beginning is handled pretty poorly, as Francesco Quinn was no longer
available, they opted to use a body double instead, and only show him from
the back. Even the post-mortem photos show only the back of his
dismembered head, yet somehow Hagler still knows it's Morrell!
What I find odd is that not one decade earlier, probably the same
tribesmen Ruggero Deodato and Umberto
Lenzi used in Cannibal
Holocaust and Cannibal
Ferox, are here again fighting for freedom against the evil white
suppressors (of course, led by a South African).
Somehow, Hagler's being black is supposed to make him identify better with
the natives and their cause. Ugh, the cheesiness doesn't stop there, as in
one scene he gathers them around the fire to inspire them with the tale of
Sparticus. The occasionally bad script is completely overcome by
Margheriti's slam-bang approach to the action scenes. Plenty of gore,
maggot ridden corpses, slow motion, and fist cracking to satisfy any fan
of Italian action flicks. Probably the funniest scene (pulled
right out of John Boorman's The Emerald Forest, which also co-stared
Tetchi Agbayani) has Hagler pummeling an old, overweight pimpess
with metal teeth named "Mama Lou" in a back-woods whorehouse. He
socks her in the head so hard it actually causes her head to implode!
Dynamite action film sure as hell kicks the shit out of the original
Indio. Charles Napier (from Alien
From the Deep, Maniac
Cop 2) stops by to say hi as the I.M.C. president. "Mista asshole
President!"
Ha,ha,ha,
go rent this flick as soon as possible. Worth every penny!
Reviews by: Mike
Martinez (courtesy
of his website www.insane.nu)
