Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985) (2025)

Review by Timelord007 ★★★★ 10

Review by Andy Summers 🤠 ★★½ 9

Whenever I think about Chuck Norris I can't help but remember Bruce Lee pulling his chest hair out in The Way of the Dragon, then blowing it away nonchalantly while Chuck tries to stifle his tears. I've seen 10 Norris films, well 9 really, in fact 8 if you don't count his cameo in Dodgeball, and besides Lone Wolf McQuade, they've all been shite. I know Chuck had his limitations as an actor, as well as reaching things from the top shelf, but he certainly made a name for himself as a martial artist in the 1970's and 80's. In fact Norris was one of Bruce Lee's buddies, although when Cliff Booth killed Lee back in 1973, it opened the…

Review by {Todd} ★½ 2

"I'll get you for this" - Braddock,

I miss fun Chuck Norris.

In MIA 2: The Beginning, we get a prequel to a movie that I didn't even like that much. We find out that Braddock was locked in a Vietnamese prison camp for years and we see what that was like. It's straight masculinity porn for people that are scared of people that look different than them. It's a depressing slog where you just watch torture scene after torture scene and conclude with an unsatisfying revenge plot. It's depressing and uninteresting. Not a recommend.

Review by deMicha ★★★ 3

DuBFal-War-Weeks Film 2

1972 Vietnamkrieg
Colonel Braddock und seine Hubschrauber-Crew werden abgeschossen, und kommen im Dschungel in Kriegsgefangenschaft. Kommander Yin will Braddock dazu zwingen Kriegsverbrechen zu gestehen.

Vorgeschichte und Fortsetzung in einem bittet uns dieser Kriegsaction Film von 1985. Diesmal nimmt Chuck Norris den Dschungel auseinander, was hier schon besser zelebriert wird. Wenn die Action übernimmt sieht das gut aus, es fliegt genug in die Luft und gestorben wird auch am Fließband. Das Dschungel Setting hat mir gefallen, das Gefangenenlager sah gut aus. Handlung/Charaktere sind wieder mal typisch für so ein Szenario, aber das weiß man ja vorher schon. Auf jedenfall besser als Teil 1, da flüssig produziert.

Review by Richard ★★½

Review by Rock ★★★½

This is less bombastic than the first movie, but among other things it gets a much better performance out of Chuck Norris. Instead of the steely, affectless man of action he so often plays, this nicely develops his camaraderie with the other prisoners, and lets him be vulnerable in ways his most notable movies don’t often do. He’s the most stoic, most capable of the heroes, but he’s still human.

This doesn’t really turn into a Rambo clone until the last third, but even then, the action, while still tasty, is scrappier and tenser. Norris’ triumph is less certain, his command of the jungle environment less sure. And while this isn’t free of the issues plaguing depictions of Asian characters in such movies, it has a pretty good villain in Soon-Tek Oh, who gets a pretty satisfying climactic fight scene with Norris.

Review by AndrewC ★★½

Review by Louis ★½

A downgrade when compared to its predecessor, Missing in Action 2: The Beginning is a surprisingly boring action flick that didn't really have much going for it.

At least Chuck Norris didn't sexually assault anyone in this one.

Review by Michelle Parsons ★★★ 7

“This is for me.”

Soon-Tek Oh was a great villain, and that rat scene was something else.

Appreciated the amount of grenades in this one but once again we come up shy in the bazooka department. At least they made up for it with some sweet flamethrower action.

Review by Keith G ★★

Review by Martin Kostenzer 🎞️ ★★★½ 3

Review by AD917 ★½ 2