| Penitentiary (1979) Cast:Leon Isaac Kennedy, Badja Djola Kennedy stars as a wrongfully accused black Vietnam vet who is sent to the slammer and while there learns a hidden talent for boxing and along the way faces off against other boxers stuck in prison, while also battling a psychotic gang banger named Half Dead (Djola) In this admittedly gritty grindhouse classic. The film has some good boxing sequences, some viscous villains and has a realtively real authentic prison feel. The film is a superior blaxploitation flick and while Kennedy is no Fred Williamson, for what it is, Penitentiary is a modestly effective prison flick. D.Jamaa Fanaka*** Penitentiary II (1982) Cast:Leon Isaac Kennedy, Mr. T, Ernie Hudson This time Too Sweet (Kennedy) is out of the slammer and preparing for a heavy weight title, when an old enemy Half Dead (Hudson) tries to ruin Too Sweet's shot for glory by raping and murdering Too Sweet's girlfriend and holding Too Sweet's sister and brother in law hostage. If one looks at the film, one can see that Penitentiary II actually laid out the foundation for the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme's Lionheart and Kickboxer (Which are very enjoyable) however that aside Penitentiary II is mean spirited, incompentently made and downright stupid movie. The film's action sequences are ineptly staged with the sound effects coming sometimes two seconds after the blow connects. The rape sequence adds nothing to the mix and indeed the film doesn't even have the hero confront the villain, as Mr. T takes down Half Dead at the end. Mr. T by the way proves to be the only mildly enjoyable character in this cartoonish movie. The climax is sort of surreal and the announcers provide unintended laughs but overall this movie is pretty awful to sit through. D.Jamaa Fanaka* Penitentiary III (1987) Cast:Leon Isaac Kennedy, Anthony Geary While a marginal improvement in quality over it's lame predcessor, Penitentiary III is pretty bad as these films go. This time there is no attempt at credibility and the film is full of unintentional hilarity, starting with the surreal opening sequence to the battle between Too Sweet (Kennedy) going up against viscous midget who later trains him. Geary though is the best thing about the film though, giving a Billy Drago-like performance that is vampish, hilarious and somewhat creepy. The film's plot is downright ridiculous, with Too Sweet now a boxing champ who is drugged by his corner man which then leads to Too Sweet killing his opponent and back to jail. Too Sweet of course refuses to fight for mobster Geary and it's really bizarre. The film itself is really bad but it's sort of entertaining. Entertainingly bad but still, you wouldn't expect less from a film from Cannon. D.Jamaa Fanaka*1/2 |