For 400 years, Japan has been home to a secret criminal organization dedicated to its own supremacy in the underworld. Ruled by an ancient, arcane code of honor, the deadly Yakuza have been among the most feared members of society. Even today, they are immediately recognizable by the stunningly ornate tattoos that cover their bodies, telling the terrifying story of their stature and career in a dark order that knows no mercy. Now the Yakuza are coming to Los Angeles. But in America, they're going to meet their match. Two cops are on their trail. One's an American raised in Japan. He's got the mind and spirit of a samurai, and the body of a human fighting machine. The other's a Japanese-American raised in California's San Fernando Valley. He's into malls, pizza and MTV. But he can disarm five gunmen with his bare feet. One's a warrior. One's a wise-ass. But together they've got what it takes to remove some tattoos from Little Tokyo. "Showdown in Little Tokyo" stars action favorite Dolph Lundgren as Chris Kenner, a man fighting for his adopted heritage and his family's honor; and Brandon Lee, in his first American film role, as Johnny Murata, a guy whose idea of a good time includes knowing where–and how–to get his kicks. Opposites in attitude, once they get on the streets, they're a perfect odd couple. And what they have in common is their enemy–the Yakuza who are bringing a lethal new drug trade to Los Angeles, coupled with a macabre taste for violence and cruelty. Detective Chris Kenner was orphaned as a child as his father was in the service and was killed and lived in Japan. Now he is on the trail of ruthless Yakuza leader named Yoshido, who helped establish a small Japanese area in Los Angeles and is now running a drug ring disguised as a brewery. However, Kenner must team up with a Japanese-American detective named Johnny Murata, and he also must protect a witness named Minako who would testify against Yoshido. But what Kenner will soon discover that he will be in a lot more than what he bargained for. Wow. You've never seen the pinnacle of great action until you've seen this. Dolph Lundgren in full-on "can't die" mode, Brandon Lee being pure jackass, be-headings, boobs, blood, Dolph Lundgren can't die, homo-eroticism, Dolph Lundgren, and oh yeah, Dolph Lundgren can't die. I just can't recommend this film highly enough. If you loved Commando, you will die over Showdown in Little Tokyo. Seriously, you don't really know action until you watch this film. It contains some of the most wildly overblown macho sentiment in history. I truly wish filmmakers would use it as a template for all future action films. Genius. If you see this film and you cannot find the greatness in it, well, look harder! It's right there on screen! Another delightfully cheesy action movie from the guy who brought us COMMANDO and CLASS OF 1999. SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO is full of clichés from start to finish, contains an incredibly poor script, bad acting, and tons of gratuitous sex and violence. It's the classic action B-movie, absolutely hilarious in places without meaning to be, and a lot of fun with it because it's just so bad. There is no plot to this film. Lundgren and Lee are two nominal policeman, partnered up in a fight against a Japanese drug lord. The whole film consists of them battling the Japanese in one way or another. There is no police presence in this film, no other characters apart from the bad guys, the good guys, and the love interest. The script is full of dumb, occasionally offensive one-liners which nevertheless add up to make this an entertaining experience.<br/><br/>Lester goes out of his way to deliver as much adult entertainment as he possibly can. Thus we get naked hookers being beheaded, tons of naked women around at every possible moment, Tia Carrera's body double being brought out at every opportunity. The violence is just as extreme, with people getting impaled, slashed, stabbed, gutted, having their little finger cut off, plus tons of shooting and the like. The destruction level is high. Buildings explode and burn to the ground, people are thrown through tables and windows. There's a ton of heavy weaponry and plenty of exciting martial arts fight sequences, with all the violent neck-breaking you could ever want.<br/><br/>One of the fun things about this film is watching all the mistakes and inconsistencies play out. My favourite scenes are the dummy in the car crusher and the fight at the end, where Lundgren gets shot through the heart and shrugs off the bullet. Acting-wise, Lundgren and Lee put in extremely poor performances. Yet they kick a lot of ass all the way through the film, which is the main thing. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa has a ball as the slimy, reptilian villain Yoshida – in fact he did so well in it he spent a career copying this character in many straight-to-video movies throughout the '90s. Tia Carrera is hopeless in her debut. Generally, this film is a lot of fun, despite it being shallow, brainless, clichéd, and unsurprising. Yet once in a while it's nice to sit back and chill out in front of a guy film like this.
Jezicer replied
344 weeks ago