This film essentially takes up where its predecessor left off with "Sheriff Buford Pusser" (played in this movie by Bo Svenson) recuperating from his injuries sustained in an ambush which killed his wife. Although his loyal deputies want to go after the suspects involved in this fatal shooting, Sheriff Pusser manages to convince them to perform their day-to-day duties while he concentrates on winning reelection. To that effect, although he is quite popular to most of the people in his county, there is a certain corrupt element led by a man named "John Witter" (Logan Ramsey) who is intent on preventing that at all costs. For starters, it suits his business interests in having someone within the police department that he can control. But even more importantly, having had a role in the deadly ambush, the one thing he doesn't want is an investigation being carried out by someone intent on getting to the truth of the matter. That being said, when Sheriff Pusser does in fact win reelection, John Witter subsequently decides to eliminate his adversary by hiring several different people with unique skills of their own. Now, rather than reveal any more I will just say that, although it didn't have quite as much drama as the original movie, it had enough robust action to make up for it to a certain degree. I also liked the performances of both Richard Jaeckel (as "Stud Pardee") and Luke Askew ("Pinky Dobson") who played their parts quite well. Likewise, having both Angel Tompkins ("Marganne Stilson") and Brooke Mills ("Ruby Lee") certainly didn't hurt the scenery in any way either. Be that as it may, while this movie may not have been as good as its predecessor, it was still enjoyable for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.
Review of Part 2: Walking Tall
