Mafia Amarilla is a rather obscure low budget wrestling movie featuring the great Blue Demon, sort of a semi-sequel or companion piece to Noche de Muerte since both share the same director and some of the same actors playing the same characters.
It falls in line with films such as Destructor de Espías and Pasaporte a la muerte, it presents a rather routinary spy/crime plot and injects the luchador hero into a group of main characters looking to foil the plans of an evil mastermind, in this case, a group of stereotyped asian criminals belonging to a gang.
As it is expected from a film of its kind, Mafia Amarilla is a very cartoony film, not only in its logic or because of the kitschy aesthetic one would expect from it, but also because of the greatly offensive "yellow peril" characterization of its asian characters, the leftovers of a bygone era of comic books and pulpy books that inspired the adventures of Santo and friends, so one cannot fault it for picking this specific aspect from those archaic pieces of media.
While it is a mostly unremarkable (yet functional and entertaining) film, I find amusing the fact that it brings back Blue Demon's detective facet, as it had been neglected for the past few films, and even later movies would as well. It is quite captivating witnessing Blue investigating the case and finding information on the villains through various action packed sequences that make the film even more worthwhile.
It's a satisfying spy flick with well-defined supporting characters that are actually likable if a little underdeveloped and two dimensional, however, they are well interpreted by talented performers. The plot is intriguing and not very complex but the battle sequences and the unreal twists the plot takes quite make up for it. It lacks the surreal images and rhythmic montage that usually elevates wrestling cinema, so its overall not very exceptional.
It falls in line with films such as Destructor de Espías and Pasaporte a la muerte, it presents a rather routinary spy/crime plot and injects the luchador hero into a group of main characters looking to foil the plans of an evil mastermind, in this case, a group of stereotyped asian criminals belonging to a gang.
As it is expected from a film of its kind, Mafia Amarilla is a very cartoony film, not only in its logic or because of the kitschy aesthetic one would expect from it, but also because of the greatly offensive "yellow peril" characterization of its asian characters, the leftovers of a bygone era of comic books and pulpy books that inspired the adventures of Santo and friends, so one cannot fault it for picking this specific aspect from those archaic pieces of media.
While it is a mostly unremarkable (yet functional and entertaining) film, I find amusing the fact that it brings back Blue Demon's detective facet, as it had been neglected for the past few films, and even later movies would as well. It is quite captivating witnessing Blue investigating the case and finding information on the villains through various action packed sequences that make the film even more worthwhile.
It's a satisfying spy flick with well-defined supporting characters that are actually likable if a little underdeveloped and two dimensional, however, they are well interpreted by talented performers. The plot is intriguing and not very complex but the battle sequences and the unreal twists the plot takes quite make up for it. It lacks the surreal images and rhythmic montage that usually elevates wrestling cinema, so its overall not very exceptional.
