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	Back In Action Director: Steve DiMarco Plot: Following the death of his partner in a drugs bust gone bad, Officer Frank Rossi has to team up with mysterious martial arts expert Billy to take the bad guys out! Writer: Karl Schiffman Starring: Roddy Piper   Billy Blanks Bobbie Philips Genre: Action Cert: Critic - Review:               Back In Action is one of the pinnacles in both Billy Blanks and Roddy Pipers acting careers. Admittedly this is not the most awe inspiring news considering the relative crap both men have starred in, and to be fair rated as anything except straight to video 90's action standard this would be a failure as a movie. However, every market has it's niche (otherwise it wouldn't be a market, silly me) and there was a high demand for this sort of macho meathead movie during the eighties and early nineties. Admittedly, coming in 1994 this movie was riding on the coat tails rather than creating the fashion, but it still adds nicely to the genre. Suffering from wooden acting and stunted dialogue, this doesn't harm the film to an extortionate degree as that is what is expected. There is no need for flair or character development, as you know the cop will join the vigilante and that at the end of the day they will have found a tremendous amount of respect for each other. The action is fairly standard for this type of movie. Cars blow-up regardless of whether it's feasible, hundreds of rounds of ammunition are spent by the "baddies" yet not one shot seems to find it's target, and the good guys can really take a pounding yet still, regardless of breaks, wounds and burns, take a big cuddle at the end without cringing. That's what real men are all about. The most appealing part of the movie is the fight scenes, and although not balletic or poetic, they do stand up through some welcome brutality. It is through the fighting that we get our only glimpse of character from the two "goodies". Blanks calm yet deadly approach to fighting is a good contrast to Piper's manic and, at times, bordering psychotic brawling/wrestling. Piper comes out of this movie slightly better on the fighting front, he is allowed to incorporate some of his wrestling moves, yet the dominant feature about his most entertaining fight scene is the mad ranting to his opponent. They really made the most of his big mouth. Blanks is as wooden as always. His delivery of lines is painful at times, although I would never say that to his face, and his reaction to situation makes me laugh, and not just a giggle, a great big Santa belly laugh. His obvious fighting talents and hulking physique tell more of a story than his mouth or face, they allow you to believe he is an angry, angry man. Piper positively shines next to Blanks, his smarmy smile and droll delivery fitting well with the script. He has the best lines of the movie and while the script is very weak, there are a few gems floating about to be caught. Although he has not shown much range or depth, I think Piper shows he is a capable actor and could certainly be slotting into the now under-used "I'm shouting so you shouldn't listen to my orders, I know you're doing it the right way" police captain roll in larger budget movies. As long as he wears his kilt! Overall, I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for a bloke movie and who doesn't care much for script, character development or production values.