Chuck Norris. David Carradine. The battle. I could write you the largest synopsis imaginable, but it's still all about the two legends squaring off in a martial arts contest. Carradine does the honors of playing the stone cold heel who runs an operation smuggling stolen artillery from the military shipping guns and other American weapons to terrorists. Norris is an El Paso Texas Ranger who doesn't necessarily operate using the standard "code of ethics" often not "playing by the rules" in order to catch (or in most cases, kill) criminals. Barbara Carrera is Lola, the woman between them (although, she loves Norris) and Dana Kimmell (Friday the 13th III) is the cutesy daughter of Norris' JJ "Lone Wolf" McQuade. L Q Jones is the retired Texas Ranger and pal of McQuade, Dakota, who pays a heavy price for assisting in the "babysitting" of a drug dealer (character actor William Sanderson, scrawny, nervy, with these glasses which enlarge his eyes to make him more of a cartoonish criminal who squeals like a pig when Dakota uses an AK 47 to get his attention). Robert Beltran is McQuade's "new partner" (yes, quite a cliché, but if you're an action fan this comes with the territory), green as expected, but loyal and actually comes in handy during moments where the one man army act is impossible. R G Armstrong is the boss over the Texas Rangers, always on McQuade about his appearance and style, believing his men should represent their badge with a "squeaky clean" image. Sharon Farrell is McQuade's ex-wife, Molly. Interesting enough, McQuade and Molly get along cordially, even after she tells him of the acceptance of a job offer in another Texas city. Leon Isaac Kennedy is a Fed, Jackson, who offers to help, not hinder, McQuade in his pursuit of the ones responsible for killing his daughter's boyfriend (and another friend; another cliché, the murder of the best friend is here)and soldiers during the artillery heist. What really puts McQuade over the edge, besides being shot at in his own bedroom, is the damned murder of his pet wolf (what is it with action movies and killing canines?). Ultimately, it is about Norris and Carradine engaged in a fight for all the marbles, at the end—after a lengthly shoot out as McQuade, Jackson, & Beltran's Kayo raid the desert compound of Carradine's Rawley Wilkes—as Carrera and a kidnapped Kimmell look on in fear. The music score and opening credits (along with how the director shoots Norris and Carradine) present "Lone Wolf McQuade" in the grand tradition of Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns. My only wish would be that McQuade and Wilkes had fought longer or more than once, but seeing them going tooth and nail—before Wilkes sucker punching McQuade's daughter, a definite no-no which gets our hero all riled up—for even a few minutes was worthwhile. As you would expect, Norris encounters plenty of punks to pummel, including many half his size (these big, burly sorts often go down with one punch or kick which I always find amusing), sent to the ground for a nice, long nap after a smack or kick (I have nicknamed Norris' spinning kick the "velocity kick" because it always knocks the recipient unconscious on impact). Carradine seems to be having fun, gnawing on his cigarillo and oozing menace, channeling, it seems, Henry Fonda's cold-blooded killer in "Once Upon a Time in the West".
Review of Lone Wolf McQuade
