Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)

Posted in Reviews by - November 01, 2020
Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)

Expect macho, B-movie, buddy cop hijinks with this crazy action quickie (only 79 minutes!), one of the most enjoyable brainless pictures out there complete with big explosions, karate kicks, greasy muscles and cheesy one-liners. Its rampant chauvinism is juxtaposed by a surely intentional homoeroticism, with some hilarious dialogue like, “in case we get killed, I wanted to tell you: you have the biggest dick I’ve ever seen on a man”. The story concerns vengeful top cop Kenner (Dolph Lundgren), whose parents were killed when he was little by Yakuza thug, Yoshida (Tagawa), a snarling super-villain specialising in drug peddling and killing people with his Samurai sword. Kenner, adept in the ways of bushido, grows up to be a law-abiding detective administering pain to Los Angeles’ criminal underworld. Male bonding ensues when policeman Johnny Murata (Brandon Lee), a hip young rookie with street cred’, is assigned to Kenner as his high-kicking partner. Brandon may be left slightly wanting in the story’s central power dynamic – left to ogle his more mature and muscular master as he bonks Tia Carrere in a hot tub – but he is not to be outdone during the film’s action scenes, more than holding his own in an early supporting role and gifted some of the movie’s best worst lines, including the classic, “You have the right to remain dead”. Reckless, childish nonsense of the highest order.

This post was written by
Editor and creator of Kung Fu Movie Guide and the host of the Kung Fu Movie Guide Podcast. I live behind a laptop in London, UK.

Leave Your Comment