Brandon Lee is always a person who fans thought was taken just on the edge of achieving stardom worldwide and his shocking death on the set of The Crow is still such a tragic accident.
But before being given the chance to act in the dark comic-book movie he established himself as an action star with Showdown in Little Tokyo, co-starring Dolph Lundgren and Rapid Fire a thriller which had him lead to a good supporting cast such as Powers Booth.
When student Jake Lo (Lee) witnesses a mob killing, he finds himself caught between two feuding drug lords. Betrayed and set up by the federal agents, the only person he can trust is Ryan (Booth), a Chicago cop who reminds Jake of his father who died in the Tiananmen Square massacre in China.
Typical of the action films made in the late 80s and early 90’s this one stands above the others because of its slick action and great performances from the leads.
Brandon Lee gets to show some good acting as well as the well-choreographed action which pays homage to his father’s work as well as many classic Hong Kong action movies such as Jackie Chan’s Police Story.
It is non-stop action with Brandon getting to show he inherited a lot of his father’s skill and on-screen charisma. The director Dwight H. Little handles the film well and keeps it very entertaining for its short 95-minute running time.
Tzi Ma plays his usual nasty villain and Nick Mancuso chews the scenery as the mafia boss. Powers Booth and Brandon work well together showing mutual respect as well as frustration with each other circumstances.
A good solid action film which has dated well, and just shows what a talent Brandon Lee could have been if his life had not been so tragically cut short.
