Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League

April 1, 2010

Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League

I really like the conceit of this direct-to-video sequel to the original Buckaroo Banzai movie.  Even though it came out fairly recently the film makers chose to set it in the eighties with all the same cool costumes and hairstyles.  They did manage to get D.W. Richter back to direct, and once again the characters and dialog are all from the fertile mind of Earl Mac Rauch.

For the most part the actors they have playing the crew do a good job living up to the characters brought to life by Jeff Goldbloom et. all from the first movie.  The only name I recognized was Lauren Tom (the voice of Amy Wong from Futurama) as Pecos – which is a joke held over from the first movie, when New Jersey mistakes both Perfect Tommy and Reno for Pecos… which is even funnier knowing that Pecos is actually a little asian woman.  And the uncredited cameo (the best cameos are uncredited) of Peter Weller as “Future Buckaroo” was brilliant – but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The action of this movie follows close on the heels of the first one.  It turns out that Penny Priddy is not a twin sister to Bukaroo’s dead wife Peggy – she’s actually a clone.  Buckroo’s evil nemesis Hanoi Xan (who was mentioned in the book the first movie was based on but was excised from the movie) has actually created clones of all the Hong Kong Cavaliers… and these are the titular World Crime League.

Of course it’s not perfect.  The movie takes a while to get going because it feels it necessary to introduce all the characters again (as if anybody besides dedicated fans of the first movie would be watching it anyhow.)  And there’s a lot of awkward finger pointing and suspicion regarding Penny – weather she can be trusted once everybody realizes her connection to Hanoi Xan.  But it does a great job capturing the chaotic spirit of the first movie, and it does the eighties thing just enough to acknowledge the time period without descending into camp.

There were several things I really loved.  Such as the new members of the Cavaliers, Pecos and Big Norse, who make it more of an all-inclusive thing than a boys club.  The whole side-plot of reviving Rawhide so they can defeat his evil clone.  The “deathdwarfs,” who could have been laughably awful but were actually kind of cool.

All in all I don’t see this becoming a favorite of mine or being watched all the time like the first movie, but I was relieved that it didn’t totally destroy the first movie.  It’s a light-hearted and light-weight add-on.

Advertisement