Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo/Comments

• The second film in the series turns pretty much everything upside down. The director is new (Toshiya Fujita), Akiko Wada is gone save for a brief cameo, and genre has changed. No more motorcycle action but a upbeat youth pic that follows six misbehaving characters (most of them men) hanging around, living together and spending a lot of time riding a jeep. They finally get involved with a heist plan which brings some suspense and action into the film. A lot of the cast is familiar from the first film, but they all appear in different roles. It’s nice to see Tatsuya Fuji, the villain of the previous instalment, as a good guy for a change. Meiko Kaji’s role is made equal to the others, but her ’jeans - white bikini top’ combination makes her really stand out in a few scenes. The rest of the lead roles are played by Takeo Chii, Han Bunjaku, Yusuke Natsu and Soichiro Maeno. Music isn’t given as much importance as before and what is here works sometimes, misfires at others (Wada’s songs from Girl Boss feel out of place). --Hung Fist