review for Escape from the Bronx on AllMovie

This sequel to the unexpectedly successful Italian sci-fi quickie 1990: The Bronx Warriors plays like a streamlined rewrite of its predecessor. In other words, Escape From the Bronx strips away the plot of its predecessor to make room for more action. The minimal street revolutionaries vs. corporate scumbags plot is derivative in the extreme, but the film remains interesting because it borrows from war movies like The Dirty Dozen as much as it does post-apocalyptic epics like The Road Warrior. Director Enzo G. Castellari, an old hand at this sort of action fare, keeps the story moving at a pleasingly quick B-movie pace and delivers plenty of well-edited action set pieces. In the area of acting, Mark Gregory isn't terribly compelling as Trash, but this is made up for by some inspired supporting performances. Gian Carlo Prete is raffishly charming as Strike and Henry Silva is a scenery-chewing delight as the amusingly named villain Lloyd Wrangler. Ultimately, Escape From the Bronx's cheap thrills are probably too dated and derivative to win any new fans, but it delivers an old-fashioned shot of B-movie fun for anyone nostalgic for Road Warrior-styled action.