Prey of the Jaguar (1996)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Waste of time

Beautiful, moving film.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Don't let the really cool-looking cover art for David DeCoteau's "Prey of the Jaguar" fool you - it's really not about a man who transforms into a giant humanoid cat and begins killing people. Although that concept would have been kind of cool (even better when combined with its real plot), unfortunately that's just not what we get here.No.It's simply about a retired government agent named Derek Leigh (Maxwell Caulfield) who becomes a high-kicking superhero - known only as "The Jaguar" - versed in the martial arts after his pregnant wife and young son are killed by a ruthless Los Angeles drug dealer named Damien Bandera (the late Trevor Goddard); the overall concept of "The Jaguar" is based largely upon a fantasy created by his murdered son. And while the police are not particularly supportive of Derek Leigh/The Jaguar's vigilante actions, he does find one unlikely ally in homicide detective Cody Johnson ("The Exorcist" Linda Blair), who investigated the original murders of Leigh's family.This is a fairly typical superhero-action movie romp from the mid-1990s (1996, to be exact). The movie is particularly noteworthy for its formidable cast of "B"-movie regulars, the most appealing, of course, being a post-"The Exorcist" Linda Blair - even though she's not on the screen that much and only appears in a few scenes. I guess the one really good thing to be said about this picture is that it moves through its by-the-numbers motions pretty quickly and it does appear that Maxwell Caulfield is doing the majority of his own martial arts fight sequences (which is about the most authentic thing about them in the first place).It's a really good way to kill an hour-and-a-half of an otherwise really boring weekday (or weekend) afternoon.4/10

Ex Special Ops government agent Derek Leigh (an excellent performance by Maxwell Caulfield) vows revenge on evil drug lord Damian Bandera (a splendidly nasty Trevor Goddard) after Bandera murders his wife and son. Leigh assumes the identity of the Jaguar, a just and heroic crime fighting superhero who's patterned after drawings by his son. Directed with surprising style and panache by veteran straight-to-video exploitation picture expert David DeCoteau, with slick, kinetic cinematography by Howard Wexler, a constant steady pace, a funky, rousing, syncopated score by Jeff Walton, a cool animated opening credits sequence, and plenty of rousing rough'n'tumble action set pieces, this flick certainly delivers the immensely entertaining B-movie goods in a pleasingly snappy and straightforward manner. Caulfield makes for a strong and likable protagonist; he receives fine support from Linda Blair as perky, sympathetic detective Cody Johnson, Tom Badal as Cody's ramrod partner Roger Reed, Paul Bartel as helpful weapons master Toymaker, John Fujioka as tough martial arts instructor Tanaka, Stacy Keach as Derek's gruff former superior the Commander, Paul Regina as uncooperative government agent Randall Bentley, Vincent Klyn as scumbag dope pusher Sonny De Pazos, and Fiona Hutchison as Derek's loving wife Karen. A fun little romp.

Really bad. So bad in fact i think i might throw up on myself. The only reason i chose to give this movie one star is because there is no lower rating. i would rather crap in my hand and eat it than watch this film again. The only slight little tiny bit of credibility that this film carries is that it contains the terrible acting abilities of 'Warchild' from point break. Didn't have enough money for good sets, good script, good lighting, good acting, didn't even have enough money to get Pat Morita to play the Sensei instead of the bald old 'poor man's' Mr. Miyagi. And as for the constant tilting camera...what the hell were these guys thinking? i have motion sickness and not to mention the nightmares i am going to have when i think of the most useless piece of cinematic trash that was ever pushed out of the sloppy rectal cavity of the crappiest production team to ever to walk the earth. WORST FILM EVER (capitals means I'm yelling)

Move over Superman and Batman, take a vacation. Maxwell Caulfield seemed to be in a slump after the lame No Escape, No Return, so he made a good decision. Dave DeCoteau does his finest with an action film filled with crazy camera angles, good dialogue, and uh, did I mention action? Plenty of it, too. I especially love those exploding-arrows. God this movie's so good I'm gonna stop writing this review to go watch it again.