Review of Any Which Way You Can (1980) by Clay B — 02 Sep 2011

After Every Which Way But Loose (1978) became one of the biggest films of 1978, a sequel was inevitable. But, alot of it feels like a carbon copy of the first film, with the same old punch-em-up's and brawls.

It's weaker in comparison, but it does have the street fight to end all street fights as it's finale. Philo Beddoe (Clint Eastwood) is still going around doing illegal bare-knuckle fights, but they've taken their toll on Philo, and he wants to call it a day, as he's started to enjoy the pain.

However, retirement isn't as easy as it seems, and a new challenge arrives in the form of Jack Wilson (William Smith), who comes from the East coast, and uses martial arts with bare-knuckle fighting, in order to convince Philo to fight Jack, the mafia get involved, and they end up kidnapping Lynn Halsey-Taylor (Sondra Locke), which they hope will convince him to fight.

So, Philo has no choice to come back one last time, with pet orangutan Clyde with him, his Ma (Ruth Gordon) and Orville Boggs (Geoffrey Lewis) to back him, and The Black Widows are on Philo's tail again, looking for vengeance for years of outsmarting them.

It's even more sillier than the first film, if that were even possible, with musical performances by Glen Campbell and Fats Domino between the brawls and fights. The final fight is worth suffering the rest of the film for.