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RED SCORPION
A film review by Greg Goebel
Copyright 1989 Greg Goebel
Every time I go strolling through the paperback section of the Corvallis Fred Meyer department store -- I do this mostly out of habit, since I lost interest in novels a long time ago -- I notice one section is devoted to what, for want of a better term, I would call "male Harlequins". Women (apparently) like to read slushy romances; men, on the other hand, like to read violent action novels.
These violent action books have titles like MIA HUNTER or SAIGON COMMANDOS or whatever. There's a whole rack of 'em, and they're usually numbered as elements of a series. Mind you, I'm not criticizing these books. People write them and make a living. People buy them and kill some time with them. Everyone's happy. (Some may claim that such books have a pernicious effect on the character of those who read them, but as a concern I personally have to place that somewhere below the potential toxicity of my tooth fillings.)
There are movies that seem to fall in this category as well, and there I would solidly place RED SCORPION.
In this film, Scandinavian hunk Dolf Lundgren plays a Soviet SPETSNATZ commando, sent to some mythical African nation (Mombassa or Mikubu or ... what the hell, something like that) to help suppress a rebellion. He eventually realizes that he's fighting on the wrong side and helps the rebels.
"And?" you ask. "And what?!" I reply. That's really all there is to it. It's sort of like a WWII-vintage propaganda flic, with the sadistic and brutal Russians and Cubans oppressing the noble African freedom fighters. It's all pretty much by-the-numbers: violence, combat, torture, fistfights; lots and lots of fiery explosions.
I didn't mind, myself. I had a frustrating week, and I wanted to go park my brains for a while before I blew a fuse and bit the mailman. I knew what I was getting into and got exactly what I expected.
RED SCORPION has zero pretensions of being anything but what it is, and makes no false claims in its advertising. Anybody who goes to see this movie with high expectations will be disappointed, but I would have to say that would be like picking up a paperback like DELTA FORCE RAIDERS and expecting to read WAR AND PEACE.
Still, it would be nice to see some movies that I don't forget the instant I walk out the door. But BARON MUNCHAUSEN hasn't made it to the provinces yet, so I guess I'll just have to satisfy myself by writing reviews.
Greg Goebel
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