"Whatever it takes" was not quite as entertaining as previous Don "The Dragon" Wilson movies. Don Wilson is beginning to show his age, and it appeared that it was more difficult for him to perform some of the stunts. The showing was running a "6" until the end, when Andrew Dice Clay had to come in with his moronic farmer jokes, which didn't add anything to the show, actually detracted from it, and was not normal for Wilson's productions.

Neil DeMarco (Wilson) and Dave Menardi (Clay) are dedicated undercover officers on the L. A. beat. After their last mission goes wrong, Neil takes it hard and hits the bottle. But, thanks to Menardi's encouragement, and the urgency of the matter, DeMarco pulls himself together for their latest assignment. It finds them tackling one of the world's greatest evils - steroid use.

Working with some DEA agents, our heroes must infiltrate the world of meatheads. The latest 'roids on the street are said to bulk you up three times faster than any product ever before. But it's not all gyms, fitness instructors, and muscleman contests for DeMarco and Menardi - the big boss of them all is evil gangster Paulie Salano (Williamson),and his hulking sidekick Kevin (Smith) is always ready to do his bidding. Will our heroes finally stop the flow of Human Growth Hormone once and for all?

Much like the color wheel, there are many gradations of stupid. We've tackled this subject many times before, but it always seems to keep cropping up again and again. Thankfully for any and all viewers of Whatever it Takes, it's a very fun, funny, ridiculous shade of stupid that will entertain you thoroughly.

With the opening credits over close-ups of muscles as people work out, then leading into a classic 'drug shipment gone wrong' scenario - in a warehouse, no less - you know Whatever it Takes is going to deliver the goods, in that mindlessly 90's sort of way that we all love and enjoy.

Andrew "Dice" Clay doesn't exactly look the part of a cop, which is all part of the fun. Also Andrew "Dice" Clay gets to shoot guns and kill people. If that's not worth the price of admission, what would be? Oddly, Nils Allen Stewart, here in a cameo, plays a guy named "Andrew Clay". Coincidence? Clay makes his wisecracking cop role seem completely effortless, and he even includes a bizarre rant about farmers, of all people, at the tail end of the movie, as if it were an outtake from one of his comedy specials. Of course, he's no stranger to contests, as he was in No Contest (1995),of course.

Matching The Diceman's charisma is Fred Williamson, here in a rare badguy role. He has a great speech in the garden at his home towards the end of the movie. His sidekick Kevin looks like a 'roided up Shep Smith.

As far as The Dragon is concerned, he's involved in a very silly barfight, and has two dialogue scenes that include people flexing in the background. As if what they were saying wasn't interesting enough, and every possible frame of film had to be filled with meatheads at all times. We get to see a fight between The Dragon and The Hammer, and clearly director Brady MacKenzie (in his one and only credit) must have realized this was something fans have wanted to see, so he doesn't skimp. The fight is long and dragged-out, in a good way.

Whatever it Takes was ahead of its time. Not only did this pre-date the "juicing" scandals of Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, it also beat The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All (1999),which had a steroid sub-plot, to the punch. Not to mention the James Franco comedy Whatever it Takes (2000). The existence of that film made it even trickier to procure this one from online retailers. Adding to that frustration, the tape was put out on the Pioneer label, which didn't get a lot of distribution here.

With our three favorite nicknames all together in one movie - The Dragon, The Diceman, and The Hammer, how could we refuse Whatever it Takes?

When I stumbled upon the 1998 action movie "Whatever It Takes" here in 2021, I must admit that I found the movie to have some appeal. Why? Well, the movie had Don Wilson and also Fred Williamson on the cast list.

And with "Whatever It Takes" being a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I sat down to watch it.

It turns out that this 1998 action movie from writers Jack Capece and Raymond Obstfeld was actually a rather enjoyable movie. Sure, this was a typical cheesy late 1990s action movie, for better or worse. But that was definitely something that, in my opinion, added to the overall appeal of the movie.

The storyline told in "Whatever It Takes" was pretty straight forward. Sure, this was not a movie that revolutionized the action genre, nor did it bring anything new to the genre, but director Brady MacKenzie managed to deliver a wholesome action movie that was driven by a good enough storyline, interesting characters and some good old fashioned hard-hitting action.

While the movie was starring Don Wilson and co-starring Andrew Clay and Fred Williamson, then this movie was first and foremost made enjoyable by Fred Williamson in the role of a drug lord. He was so nicely cast for that particular role and character, and his performance was just spot on. This guys' charisma and appearance definitely added so much to the character.

Personally I am not interested in bodybuilding and such, so I found very little appeal in all the displaying of workout sessions and both men and women with so many muscles that it started to look monstrously bad. But hey, to each their own. But of course, with the movie's storyline, this was a needed ingredient for the movie.

If you enjoy a good old fashioned action movie, then "Whatever It Takes" is a good bet. I found it to be a rather enjoyable and entertaining movie.

My rating of "Whatever It Takes" lands on a well-deserved six out of ten stars.