GENRE: Straight Compilation
DIRECTORS: Domina X
STARS: Carmen Haze, Mya Lovely, Desiree, Erika Kane, Olivia Del Rio, Vanessa Blue, Cynthia Pendragon, Lexington Steele, Toni T, Maxx Blacque, Toni Ribas
DATES OF PRODUCTION: 2004
LENGTH: 150 mins with bonus material

It's rare when a couple of XXX performers connect carnally on screen. After all, hardcore pornography is sex for money, no matter how many times the behind the scenes interviews will argue that pleasure plays a part in the porking. If every gal who said, with pseudo sincerity, that she showed up on set this very day to get good and fucked really meant what she was spewing, all adult material would be dick-stiffening spectaculars. Let's face it: the reason why most movies are limp labors of lugubrious log rolling is because the performers fail to build up even the smallest amount of corporeal chemistry when the director yells 'action'. It would be easy to argue that most porn performers are just going through the motions, but that would be giving said nonchalant action advocates a bad name. Sometimes, you can see the struggle for sexual connection as clearly as a bad piercing, an awkward tattoo or a set of snaggled teeth. And while it may be too much to ask for adult performers to ACT like they are enjoying each other, they don't have to look so repulsed, do they? So when a pairing of people seems to hit it off in an electrifying erotic manner, the flesh fire streaming from the set is enough to give you hardcore heat prostration.

This happens three times in Black Reign 2, a scene compilation collection that almost becomes a pantheon to peter pounding goodness. But low and behold it is not to be, as three other scenes on this set cause all cock claret to dry up like Fresca in the Goby desert. Indeed, Black Reign 2 is an amazing dichotomy between the passionate and the pathetic, the professional and the pud-knocker. If it had just found a way to make the other sequences included work within the context of the body bumping going on elsewhere, this would have been one scorcher of a set.

The DVD:
Presented in a strange, first person POV style that finds the actresses constantly dealing directly with the camera (well, at least most of the time) Black Reign 2 presents performers of color in standard sex scene compilation circumstances. There is lots of cabaret here – offered in music video style montages with plenty of camera tricks and editing "hiccups" – and the women have various suck and fuck spiels they hurl at the lens, obviously in an attempt to develop a "persona" for the home audience. Most succeed in making that connection, but there are some ladies here who seem less than enthusiastic with their participation. Looking at the scenes individually, we get a better idea of what works and which horrible male performers need to be sent out to has-been pastures ASAP. We begin with:

Scene 1: Carmen Haze, Lexington Steele
Carmen and Lex connect in a manner that is rare in hardcore pornography. About halfway through the scene, you stop thinking that you are watching performers puff each other's privates, and are instead eavesdropping in on a secret session between scorching-hot lovers. Carmen takes Zaftig to a whole new level, and Mr. Steele can't wait to park in the pole position. He tit fucks her, sucks her large breasts with reckless abandon and the couple indulges in a great deal of pre-frig foreplay. Then out pops the monster member carried by our headlining he-man, and Carmen proves that she is up to the shaft snacking. The pairing then pork in the balling bow-wow configuration. The first of several V to M sequences takes place, and you can rest assured that every time Lex removes his ramrod, Ms. Haze is hunkering down on it with lip-licking delight. From this point forward, the scene is a full out fuck frenzy: Mr. Steele strokes Carmen in reverse cowgirl, straight and regular cowgirl modes, and adds a small amount of ass smacking to the pussy pulverizing. Ms. Haze gives it as good as she takes it and the end result is an intense, arousing scene. Lex is so impressed that he pops ALL OVER THE PLACE – hair, face, floor, ceiling, etc. If you can get past the attitude angle Carmen displays in the first few minutes of this scene (there is a little too much of the "you can't handle this pussy" ideal here) you will be rewarded with one of the most sizzling sex scenes on an adult title. It is erotic, aggressive (without being harsh) and completely captivating. Score: 9 out of 10.

Scene 2: Mya Lovely, Lexington Steele
Lex and Mya are poolside, and before you know it, Mr. Steele is manhandling Ms. Lovely's ass with bad intent. Mya blows Lex with lots of deep throat action (good for her and her gag reflex) and our main man munches on her pectoral mounds for a while. Doggie is the first hump hierarchy explored, followed quickly by straight vaginal and cowgirl. Of course, there is lots of mandatory V to M in between each cock reconfiguration and Lex and Mya really pour on the perverted pandering. After lifting up his lady in the "butterfly collectors" position (meaning Lex lets Mya ride his baloney pony as he walks around the room) we get to the final moments of emotion as the couple continue copulating (with some subtle spanking) until Lex loses his load all over Mya's face and lips. Black Reign 2 follows up its best scene with a session almost equally erotic. Lex is so large, both in body and boner, as compared to Mya's petite stature that there is a new, more nubile dynamic at play. When Lex fucked Carmen, it was two equally matched titans. With Ms. Lovely, there is a whole male domination angle explored. Another hot, horny scene. Score: 8.5 out of 10

Scene 3: Desiree, Maxx Blaque, Toni T
Awwwww...FUCK! Just when it looked like Black Reign 2 would be wall-to-wall wild ass wantoness, along comes the less than competent duo of Toni and Maxx to shit all over everything. Here are two male leads that need to be returned to the halfway house they came from and never allowed near a pretty pussy ever again. Mr. Blaque NEVER gets a hard-on throughout the entire course of this scene. He suffers from so much tool taffy that tourist kiosks on the boardwalk in Atlantic City are worried about the competition to their own saltwater sweets industry. Toni, on the other hand, looks like the Deliverance kid's older, less competent brother and balls like he's never seen a woman before. He is constantly thrusting his cock into situations he (and we) can't handle, and the end result is chaos instead of carnality. Desiree has a Lil Kim look, which means that men who enjoy compact ladies of color will enjoy her miniature attributes. As for the sex, it is typical threesome insanity, with too many positions to name (scissors, cowgirl, reverse, dog, etc) and so many volatile variations that one loses track quickly. There are so many edits here that one has to question the professionalism of the cock-carrying performers. When you have to cut away before offering up the pop, you know there's trouble in trouser snake city. Score: 1 out of 10

Scene 4: Erika Kane, Toni T
In a nice diversion from the multi-faceted fucking on this disc, we are treated to an oral-only scene between the fetching Erika (bet Susan Lucci's happy about that porn name) and the always-irritating Mr. T. Thankfully, Toni doesn't have much to do here except have his rod refinished. Ms. Kane begins the scene by discussing her love of dick sucking, all the while holding a glass dildo suggestively up to her lips. When Toni enters, the oral starts and it's all pretty straightforward from here on out. There is some ball action, a little tit time and lots of spit. Toni ends up fucking Erika's face while she is prone on the couch, but otherwise, this is just standard slurp 'til you shoot. And when Toni explodes, it's directly down Ms. Kane's throat. Short, sexy and to the point, this is a dandy distraction from the half-assed histrionics of the previous scene. Score: 5 out of 10

Scene 5: Olivia Del Rio, Toni Ribas
It's time to turn up the rig friggin' furnace again as Olivia and Toni (not to be confused with our classless cockmaster of Scenes 3 and 4) generate enough hardcore heat to melt down diamonds. Like Lex's sex scenes, The Ribas/Del Rio pairing provides another incredible example of fucking on film, and the slammin' is sensational. Without a lot of flowery, farty language, here is what happens: The pair engages in foreplay. Toni kisses Olivia all over her body and eats her pussy. There is even some salad tossing. We then get F to M oral, finger sucking, vaginal spooning, scissors, pile driver, LOTS of V to M, cowgirl, ass fingering, reverse cowgirl, and doggy. Next, the other orifice is explored as we are treated to anal doggy, pile driver, gaping, A to M (with some face fucking), more pile driver, more A to M, more butt bow-wow, even more A to M, straight ass sex...and so one. Near the end, Toni pulls out and places his cock in front of Olivia's craw. She does some straight mouth movements on it, slapping herself with his stiff rod before teasing the tip with her teeth. The standard facial money moment is achieved and the duo seems spent (not to mention the audience). While some of the sensual strangeness is hard to follow, as are the jackrabbit position changes, Toni and Olivia give it their all, and we enjoy every engorging minute of it. Score: 8.5 out of 10

Scene 6: Vanessa Blue, Mya Lovely, Cynthia Pendragon, Lexington Steele
You know there has to be something wrong with the sex circumstances if "Tree Stump" Steele has rigidity issues. Sadly, Lex is less than stiff in this four-way weirdness. His doughy dong adds nothing to this free-for-all and the girls don't really seem to care. They are too busy feigning same sex satisfaction to pay much attention to it. There is some overt and subtle lesbianism, lots of dick sucking, a strange manacle/cock ring item that is quickly discarded and lots of unhygienic V to V to V to M to V to M to V to V action (just try and follow that!). About the only interesting addition here is Ms. Pendragon, who acts like a pissed off slut, demanding more and more of Lex's middle leg. As the sole white performer in this plooking paradox, she lives up to her stereotyping nicely. With another obvious edit (perhaps to deal with the "firmness" factor), Lex loses his load all over his twisted sisters (how heavy metal – or Macbeth, for that matter) and the bawdy bee-aches snowball the semen in a rather nauseating display. Most group grope scenes fail because the interpersonal pringling between the parties is so hard to follow. To make matters worse, none of the glory holing gals here seem to be up for the fuck. Lex sure is limp and their less-than-aggressive attitude marks a mediocre end to a schizophrenic disc. Score: 4 out of 10.

The 50/50 facets of Black Reign 2 make this DVD a quandary to consider. Half of the material here is hardcore action at its most steamy and erotic. When Lex links up with Mya Lovely (alone) and Carmen Haze, the results are flammable. You'd be hard pressed to find better bush pushin' anywhere. And Toni Ribas rides Olivia Del Rio for all her fake-titted worth. But with only the oral sequence surviving the Toni T/Maxx Blaque mediocrity and the final quadraphonic crap just a complete body banging mess, this title walks a wobbly tightrope of recommend-ability. Lexington Steele is an amazing performer (with a monster member to match), but when even he can't find the fullness to get involved, you know something is just not right. All the ladies here are attractive, or at least XXX-citing and the scenes go on long enough that almost every proclivity is performed. Still, what could have been a terrific title is, again, brought down by a lack of professionalism and carnal chemistry. Had Lex found some performers to match his one-on-one prowess, Black Reign 2 would have ruled the ribald roost. But thanks to some stupid slacker shenanigans and a flaccid four-way finale, this is one adult DVD that suffers from a split sexual personality.

The Video:
There is a cloudy, indistinct characteristic to the transfer of Black Reign 2 that may be the direct result of the technology being used. The 1.33:1 full screen image is color correct and clean, but the video lacks the crispness of other adult manufacturers. Since we are dealing with gonzo-like capture techniques, one has to admit that this 'catch as catch can' style is recreated nicely here, without any of the telltale video flaws – flaring, bleeding, halos – we've come to expect from such shooting situations. But Black Reign 2 has some focus pulling problems, and this doesn't help the hardcore much.

The Audio:
Relying on a smooth, slinky hip-hop soundtrack to open and close each scene, as well as equally booty-moving music over the menus, the Dolby Digital Stereo aspects of Black Reign 2 are excellent. As for the sex scene sonics, we do experience some drop out and less than voluminous moments. But overall, we are treated to some stellar aural attributes and that more than makes up for any missing words of wisdom from our cast.

The Extras:
Along with the bare bones basics of a photo gallery, website information and trailers, the best added content on this DVD is a 16-minute behind the scenes look at the making of Black Reign 2. Carmen spends time taunting Lex as she gets ready for their scene. We follow her as she prepares for her cover shoot. Next, Vanessa Blue poses for pictures as Lex plays shutterbug. Mya and Cynthia look on and comment of the comeliness of the imagery. Soon, they take part in the modeling. Finally, Vanessa does a little contortionist routine as she indulges in a little pre-pork stretching. While we don't get a lot of in-depth Q&A with the ladies, this extra highlights the laid back approach to porn taken by Lex and his production company.

Final Thoughts:
If thought of in fractions of hardcore satisfaction, 4/6ths of Black Reign 2 is sexually satisfying, and of that material, 3/4ths is ridiculously red hot. The combination of Lexington Steele and Carmen/Mya makes for some monumental mons mashing and the Double R randiness of Toni and Olivia adds oodles of craven canoodling. But then there are the refugees from an idiot savant street gang – a.k.a. Toni T and Maxx Blaque – who seem out of their league and lost in a world of men. Their boy's home histrionics sink Black Reign 2 below a high recommendation, but are not bad enough to launch this title into lend/lease land. On the Disco Dirge Peter Meter, this DVD gets a 6.5 out of 10 and is well worth a look. Couples will also enjoy the smoldering sensuality in at least half of these scenes, so a Cohabitation Certification is granted. Anyone looking for proof that chemistry and professionalism are the foundations for scintillating suck and fuck films needs look no further than Black Reign 2. When the combinations are crackerjack, the sex is stupendous. But in the wrong configuration, the carnality is just a-sexual crap.