action thriller

Exterminator 2 is a 1984 action thriller film written and directed by Mark Buntzman (with additional scenes directed by William Sachs), starring Robert Ginty and Mario Van Peebles, with cameos by Arye Gross in Arye Gross's debut role, and John Turturro in Arye Gross's second role.

a straight up action movie cartoon where a masked vigilante takes on a wild street gang that’s practically out of a post-apocalyptic story

Instead, Exterminator 2 is a straight up action movie cartoon where a masked vigilante takes on a wild street gang that’s practically out of a post-apocalyptic story.

Instead of making a gritty exploitation film for the standard 80s action flick

Instead of making a gritty exploitation film, Exterminator 2 opts for the standard 80s action flick and while I suppose one can label this an exploitation film an exploitation's very different in tone from the original.