Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)

Directed by Mark L. Lester. Starring Dolph Lundgren, Brandon Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Tia Carrere, Toshirô Obata, Rodney Kageyama, Philip Tan, Renee Griffin, James Taenaka, Ernie Lively. [R]

Brainless actioner has less plot and character development than the already-low average, and simply pits martial artist cops Lundgren and Lee against sadistic Yakuza boss Tagawa on the mean streets of L.A.’s “Little Tokyo”. Celluloid trash that knows its audience—in addition to a shootout or fight scene popping up every five minutes or so, and the chief baddie’s overkill death scene making sure he suffers plenty, the filmmakers understand the über-masculine identity of their princes of pain. For example, shortly after showing club singer Tia Carrere’s body double in the buff, Lee tells his appreciative partner, “You have the biggest dick I’ve ever seen on a man,” which is a nice and reassuring reminder that all action heroes swing both ways. In his first American film role, Lee delivers more lame wisecracks than bone-crushing blows, but there’s still bittersweet joy seeing the rising action star at work before his tragic early death. Al Leong (of course) makes a brief appearance.

40/100