Bullet Points: C.I.A. II: Target Alexa

I have seen more than my fair share of collaborations between Lorenzo Lamas and Kathleen Kinmont. During their marriage in the first half of the 1990’s, the two worked together frequently in movies like Final Impact and the television series, Renegade.

But 1993’s C.I.A. II: Target Alexa felt different than any of my previous Lamas/Kinmont experiences… it felt like Kathleen Kinmont was the action hero here and Lorenzo was more or less her sidekick. This very well could have been by design as Kinmont does share a writing credit in this one and Lorenzo was splitting his time between acting and directing the movie.

• Epic Failure: The movie begins with our hero, company man Mark Graver (Lorenzo Lamas, Snake Eater), arriving at a C.I.A. facility that is housing a state of the art guidance system for nukes (the “guidance system” looks like a microwave and in fairness the movie does point out this fact… which makes me believe it could have actually been a microwave and the movie was just getting out in front of it). Graver has been tasked with being the operative in charge of transporting the guidance system to Wyoming where it will be installed and put to use by the United States government. Mike arrives ahead of schedule and is shooting the shit with one of his C.I.A. buddies drinking a cup of Yuban coffee (found on the bottom shelf of the grocery store on Supermarket Sweep). That is about the time when some bad guys led by a former operative that when rogue, Ralph Straker (John Saint Ryan, American Cyborg: Steel Warrior), crash the party and steal the guidance system… Graver to his credit puts up a fight… chasing down the truck carrying the guidance system on foot and jumping out on to the back of the truck… he even has a fist fight on the top of the moving truck, before ultimately having to jump off when the bullets start flying in his direction… Graver’s boss arrives and is none too pleased that Graver failed and blames it on his lack of concentration saying he still has Alexa on the brain (Graver and Alexa apparently got hot and heavy for a bit following the events of C.I.A. Code Name: Alexa).

• Cut to Alexa: We learn that Alexa withdrew from the C.I.A.’s protective custody and moved to parts unknown with her young daughter Tanya. It appears Alexa is at peace and living her best life on her horse ranch with Tanya in small town U.S.A. …that is until a routine trip to the grocery store turns deadly. Alexa and Tanya stop on the way home from school and it just so happens an armed robbery goes down while Alexa and Tanya are having a discussion about Chips Ahoy. Alexa is no damsel in distress, for the benefit of those who did not see the original… Alexa is a trained killer, having spent her formative years in a mercenary camp where she became a soldier of fortune. So two guys with guns aren’t going to scare her off, even after they shoot the store clerk… Alexa steps in, kicks some ass and kills one of the masked robbers in the process. And what does she get for this good deed? Arrested!

• Double Your Displeasure: The traitorous Ralph Straker is not the only bad guy interested in the United States’ new high-tech nuclear guidance system… a mercenary group led by a man named Franz Kluge (John Savage, Red Scorpion 2) also want in on this technology and they abscond with the second piece of the puzzle. Straker got the guidance system, but Kluge got the microchip that actually operates the system. This doubles the displeasure for everyone… the C.I.A. has to worry about two sets of bad guys, while the bad guys have to worry about the C.I.A. and the other set of bad guys.

• Let’s Make a Deal: Back to Alexa, things aren’t looking good for her… the armed robber she didn’t kill has painted a picture that is not too flattering for Alexa and since her daughter was there to witness it all, Alexa is also looking at child endangerment charges and the very real possibility that Tanya will be taken away from her… that’s about the time Graver shows up and makes Alexa an offer to help the C.I.A. retrieve the nuclear guidance system… Alexa is actually a perfect candidate because the mercenary she trained under (in more ways than one) was none other than Franz Kluge! Not having much choice in the matter, Alexa finds herself once again working with Mark Graver and the C.I.A.

C.I.A. II: Target Alexa was produced by PM Entertainment, so the moment I saw the logo I knew there was a 99.9% chance I was going to see a helicopter and after only a few seconds in I was not disappointed. C.I.A. II: Target Alexa has to be considered a contender for most double agents/double crosses in a PM Entertainment movie… I guess it should have been expected when your movie is filled with government operatives, mercenaries and terrorists.

Now let’s move on to some Bonus Bullet Points… something else that should have been expected.

• Cat Fight: One of the most memorable action scenes was when Alexa found herself tangling with the tough chick that took her spot in Kluge’s camp after she left, Lana (played by Lori Fetrick aka Ice from American Gladiators). During the woman on woman violence, all the guys watching were blurting out “cat fight” with excitement as you might imagine.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Lorenzo Lamas operate a forklift and use it to pin a bad guy against the wall, then this is the movie for you.
• Familiar Faces: Art Camacho (Recoil) played one of the security guards working in the bowels of the Central Intelligence Agency’s high security computer lab that looked a lot like the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant… Branscombe Richmond (Death Ring) played General Mendosa, one of the interested buyers in the nuclear guidance system… Gene LeBell played one of Kluge’s men that gives chase on a motorcycle through the desert when it is discovered that Mark Graver was surveilling their mercenary camp. Speaking of…
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Lorenzo Lamas escape the clutches of Gene LeBell via hang glider, then this is the movie for you.
• Favorite Quote: “There’s nothing sorry about my ass.” – Alexa
• Rumor Has It: A third film in the series was planned titled C.I.A. III: Nation Under Siege but it never came to fruition.