Chiba and ‘Bodyguard Kiba’ director Ryuichi Takamori re-teamed in the same year for a quickly produced sequel bringing back Chiba’s cool as ice bodyguard for another round of ass kicking.

This time around Kiba is sent to prison for taking revenge on a rival who blinded his sister. Once his time is served and he is back out on the streets, Kiba is looking for work and takes a job as a bodyguard at a local nightclub, which the Yakuza like to frequent, as he needs the money to pay for his sister’s medical bills. Now working for the bad guys he was so determined to put away in the first film, Kiba soon once again takes up his fists and high kicks to dish out some gangster scum justice.

Not as riotously entertaining as the first instalment, ‘Bodyguard Kiba 2’ is still a fun watch, mainly to see Chiba strutting his cool stuff and for the impressive fight scenes that open and close the film. In particular, the opening fight that sees Kiba battling another martial arts master in the rain at night. It’s a dynamic sequence that pulls you in but unfortunately, the film falters somewhat after this. There’s still some fun to be had as Ryuichi Takamori directs with style once again, there’s lots of tough guy/gangster posing (with Chiba and a rival proving how tough they are by ripping phone books with just their hands!), and there is some impressive action come the finale.

It’s pretty much cool guy and tough gangster posing 101 but there is some good support from the likes of Etsuko Shihomi (‘Sister Street Fighter’) and Chiba makes it worth sitting through the non-fighting parts with his intensity, this seemingly an action practice for the film that immediately followed this: the career-defining ‘The Streetfighter’.