Scott LeBrun Routine martial arts nonsense stars Dolph Lundgren as Chris Kenner, an American police detective schooled in Eastern culture and mysticism. He's partnered with Johnny Murata (Brandon Lee), as he goes after the vicious Yakuza baddies raising Hell in the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles. They trade quips and do macho posturing, while Chris gets the hots for Minako Okeya (Tia Carrere), a sultry nightclub singer.I won't deny it, "Showdown in Little Tokyo" is stupid, and pretty badly scripted, with some amusingly dumb lines. Much of the action is not that inspired, to boot. But Lundgren and Lee seem to be having some fun with the bickering / bantering aspect to the screenplay, the pacing is decent (this clocks in at a very brief 79 minutes), and the violence is reasonably effective. Originally, the movie wasn't meant to be so tongue in cheek, but it's a good thing that the filmmakers went in that direction. Otherwise, this might be just plain bad.Lundgren and Lee are a hoot in the leads, no matter if their actual performances aren't all that hot. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is a perfectly serviceable villain; he's just pure sleazy evil, and he snarls quite adequately. The luscious Carrere provides plenty of eye candy, even if she was likely doubled for some shots in that hot tub sequence. Lundgren shows off his physique as well.One rather disturbing sex scene is a highlight, and our villain gets quite the show stopping comeuppance.From the director of "Commando".Five out of 10.

nikola17 this movie i saw this movie Showdown in Little Tokyo when i was 5 years old and then when i turned 15 i watched because when i was kid i love Action Movies so much even Today i Still Love them so i am got Into Dolph Lundgren in 2010 when Expendables come out i got into Dolph Lundgren Rented all his movies. then i saw this Movie i Remember it Now then i enjoy watching this movie Action Packed,Fast Placed,Good Shot of Filming and Brandon Lee R.I.P Rest in Peace Lost a very good Action Star who did just 5 Movies sad so sad losing a very good Action Star Brandon Lee (Johnny Murata) is not main character the main character is Dolph Lundgren (Sgt. Kenner)and i like the Villain he was Entering and fun Villain Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa(Funekei Yoshida)and the Action Scenes were Awesome and Funny Johnny play as Wise Cop and Trying to help Kenner then Kenner tells Johnny that his story what happened 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. so then Dolph is trying to find the guy who killed his Family and as Character Dolph was funny and Awesome when he fights in pool with big Japanese guy in fighting in water that was a very cool shoot in movie Very cool and Showdown at end when Dolph and Cary was fighting in sword fight was amazing and funny when Dolph was saving the girl from Suicide was awesome him breaking into house then killed bad guys quickly and saving girl that was awesome people say terrible acting Terrible movie screw what screw that if your into Martial Arts and Kicking Ass Non Stop Action movie ever made you will enjoy this movie Brandon Lee was missed could be more franchise of Showdown In Little something ? like 2nd movie this movie is Awesome that's all i can say in my Review.

breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com After proving his ability to be an action star from Red Scorpion (1988), The Punisher (1989) and Dark Angel (1990), someone got the bright idea to pair up Dolph Lundgren with famous martial arts star Bruce Lee's son, Brandon Lee. I'm going to assume this was director Mark L. Lester's idea because he's worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger before from Commando (1985). He must have enjoyed working with Schwarzenegger so much he needed to make another action film starring another foreign born 6 foot giant with big muscles. But adding to this special film was the casting of Brandon Lee who was added for good measure.Both Lee and Lundgren follow the typical character arcs that most action films contain - the leads work by their own standards and consider themselves above the law, they also don't get along with others. But here's what's different, the two cops don't stay at odds for a lengthy amount of time so that particular element doesn't last very long to begin with. Doing this allows the companionship between them to grow better and stronger and this shows. Lundgren and Lee give their characters a lot of energy (and use it I might add) throughout the film. Plus, to make things even more backwards was having the characters' backgrounds switched. Having Lundgren's character born and raised in Japan and Lee's character raised like an immigrant in America was clever. This enforced the funny tongue and cheek dialog between them which makes it enjoyable to watch. That particular element, the writing, I found to be written well. Together, these two "officers" of the law are trying to rid L.A. of the vicious Yakuza of Japan led by Yoshida (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa). Tagawa was a great choice as the leader, he has a truly menacing presence when he's on screen. It's also appropriate that he plays that role because Tagawa is Japanese. Though it is funny how this isn't the first time Lundgren has fought the Yakuza either. He also did it in The Punisher (1989),...do they have something against him?Like any Dolph Lundgren movie though, there's bound to be plenty of fist and gunfights. And Brandon Lee? Yeah, no bad guy is going to live in this movie. What may surprise people even more is how heavy some of the action scenes are. Apparently the 79 minutes of running time was the cut version, meaning the uncut version was much heavier (lengthier too). It actually stunned me a little to see such a lighthearted duo face off against such a brutal enemy. Tango & Cash (1989) was rated R but even the violence there was light compared to this. That's not to say it wasn't entertaining - far from it. I also liked David Michael Frank's score to the film. It's definitely no orchestra but he creates a main theme for the film and even it gives it a Japanese like feel to it, which was much appreciated.Going back to the running time though, this movie should've been left uncut for release. The movie plays out very well yet the story feels so rushed like there were parts that were supposed to be included in the story (which their were, but were cut). This film could have had that and its frustrating when a good film is lowered in quality when the important parts are cut. Perhaps audiences could have seen even more development between Lee and Lundgren, that way this duo would be just as memorable as any other buddy cop duo. It's not to say they acted badly but there's always room to grow.The leads are charismatic, the action is heavy and the writing is clever. Unfortunately, viewers may feel short-handed when it comes to running time due to all the cuts the MPAA wanted.

eric262003 .Much in the tradition of buddy cop movies like the "Lethal Weapon" series, "Running Scared" and "Rush Hour", "Showdown in Little Tokyo" stars Swedish born superstar Dolph Lundgren who is paired up with relative newcomer at the time Brandon Lee who was on the verge of a promising career that was cut short from tragedy. Situated in the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles, the crime fighting caper features Detective Chris Kenner (Lundgren) and his partner Detective Johnny Murata (Lee) butting heads with a dangerous elite roaming the area called the Yakuza who are dealing "ice". This is a refreshing contrast to Lundgren as he usually handles assignments on his own rather than pair up with someone else to take down baddies. Lee is the centerpiece of the comic foil as he is too Americanized and happens to know very little about his roots. Cary Tagawa plays the villain role as Yoshida, the leader of the Yakuza Iron Claw gang and he makes the most of it by adding substance to his character. Yoshida's evil capabilities go as far beyond one would expect like when he beheaded a woman who tried to rat on him towards his rivalry. Once he takes over the Bonsai Club, Yoshida has an interest towards singer Minako Okeyda (Tia Carrere) and sadistically rapes her. To further inflate his evil resume, Kenner knows Yoshida as a familiar face in his past life. Nothing much really, just that he was responsible for KILLING HIS PARENTS, that's all. The story isn't based on anything real, just continual action and the tone at time can be quite graphic and extremely violent. The humour is in very dark tones, but the chemistry in Lee and Lundgren's partnership is quite intriguing and they encounter their toughest challenges when the Yakuza gang captures the heroic duo and are diabolically beaten by electric shock.This was Brandon Lee's film debut as we see Brandon doing everything to fulfill the legacy of his late father, the legendary Bruce Lee and it's clear he's learned a few thing from his father, especially his superb kicking skills. Sadly like his father he too lived a very short life. While filming "The Crow", he was killed on the set Ludgren seems to be full physique and seems to be quite savvy with a sword especially in his final battle with Yoshida. "Showdown in Little Tokyo" is one of Ludgren's better efforts during a better era when major studios backed him up. It was sadly it was a box office flop due to unfair circumstances.