Animal 2 (2007)

"As usual, Ving puts in a great performance..."Animal 2" is just as good as the first one...  Direct Tarbosh, Direct-To-Video Movie Reviews
"...a decent script but I found it great to watch Ving Rhames beat the s*** out of more inmates...good fight scenes.  MatchFlick.com

Editor's Note Now serving a life sentence for murder, James "Animal" Allen (Ving Rhames) returns to fighting for cash in order to help his troubled son (Vicellous Shannon) on the outside. However, with his newfound fame as a fighter, Animal uncovers a jailhouse conspiracy that threatens to cause racial tensions to explode.

	Deborah Valente
	K.C. Collins
	Vicellous Reon Shannon
	Ving Rhames
	Craig McConnell - Original Music By
	Erin Berry - Producer
	Jacob L. Adams - Writer
	Ryan Combs - Director
	Steve Bedernjak - Editor
	Wayne Thompson - Producer

DVD Verdict 8 of 10
Hey, do you love the intricate, political workings of life behind bars? Well, here's the movie for you. Animal 2 will give you an eyeful of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that goes into making a grown man one's bitch. Also, Ving Rhames fights really awesome for a 48-year old. Then again, he's got arms the size of Patriot missiles...I'm reluctant to classify this sequel as an action movie. The fights are certainly the mayhem centerpieces, but there's so few of them, they can't propel the film deep enough into the genre to gain admittance. The first big melee doesn't even happen until 40 minutes on, and after that, you just get a montage and a final, anticlimactic bout. Lame. The fights are fine, but limited in their scope. The close-combat set-up allows for some intimate, brutal beatdowns, but there's not much innovation in the violence. Basically, Ving Rhames pounds on dudes' heads and kicks them in the genitals occasionally...Prison life is raw and brutal and Animal 2 confirms that I'd constantly be in my happy place if I was dumped into gen-pop. But don't expect much action; this is a plot-heavy drama more than a rock 'em sock 'em knuckle-sandwich epic. - David Johnson