AllMovie

This campy but inferior sequel from director Jonathan Winfrey stars sexy Joan Severance as the masked avenger Black Scorpion, here pitted against a crazed earthquake researcher (Sherrie Rose). The mayor wants federal construction contracts, so he sabotages Rose's project, a revolutionary earthquake-blocking device. All Rose wanted was to be a hero, and the treachery drives her insane enough to don a tight red outfit and becomes a super-villain. Calling herself Aftershock, the disturbed scientist breaks depraved master criminal Gangster Prankster (Stoney Jackson) out of jail, and together they plan to level the city. Garrett Morris is back as Argyle, and Gangster Prankster kidnaps his girlfriend in order to get the Scorpion-mobile. It's up to Black Scorpion to stop them, but in doing so she must confront her own cowardice and win the heart of her new partner/roommate (Whip Hubley). This adventure is even more Batman-oriented than the 1995 original, especially with regard to Gangster Prankster's Joker-like hideout, henchmen, and deadly traps. Still, except for Stoney Jackson -- who is delightfully manic -- the rest of the cast seems to forget that campy films require exuberance, and they mostly phone in their performances.