Plot; There's a showdown... in Little Tokyo.Taking a different approach to the standard "buddy Cop" formula, Showdown in Little Tokyo sees two mismatched partners start off hating one another only to slowly gain a grudging mutual respect that ultimately turns into friendship. Oh, wait.The components for a serviceable buddy cop film are here, but the whole thing plays like it was edited w/a Samurai sword (and in fact the studio did demand a series of cuts, bringing its runtime down to a brisk 79 minutes w/credits). The result is less a movie and more of a series of vignettes set to an irritatingly redundant score. For their part, buddy cops Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee bring the physical goods and do their best to bond despite having worse chemistry than Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi. The always good Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa does what he can w/his paper thin baddie and a young pre-Wayne's World Tia Carrere melts the screen as the token love interest. Sadly none of that is enough to salvage this clunky genre bottom feeder.

This film here was the first Brandon Lee American movie. He had done some limited TV spots and a film in Hong Kong prior to Showdown in Little Tokyo though. For a low-budget film, it's sure to keep both Lee and Lundgren fans enthralled. The fight scenes are well choreographed, and the banter between Lee and Lundgren adds some humor as well. A young Tia Carrere (age 24 at time of filming) is a knockout. The hot tub scene where she climbs in with Dolph is memorable. As with all sword play films, there are some very gruesome scenes but overall not too graphic. In some ways this was your standard white samurai/ninja story and really I usually hate those movies but somehow having Dolph Lundgren as the white samurai it made it OK.This movie is filled with cheesy moments so bad you'll die laughing. I enjoyed this film's badness because it seemed so serious in what it was trying to produce. My favorite part was when Lundgren jumps over the convertible. He must be about eight feet in the air! Michael Jordon couldn't do such a stunt without scraping his feet on the car. "Showdown in Little Tokyo" needs to be seen to be believed. Is it tons of fun? You bet. Is is also very ridiculous? Of course! Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

About eight years ago, I posted a different, rosier review of SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO. I was new to the B-movie martial arts scene and it was the first Dolph Lundgren vehicle I had ever watched, leading to a very favorable analysis of the movie, but after viewing many subsequent offerings of the same subgenre, my impression has become more balanced and critical. SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO is still a fun action outing and definitely among Lundgren's best, but it hasn't aged particularly well and has lost some of its ability to satisfy beyond the appreciation of turophiles.The story: Two renegade cops – played by Lundgren and Brandon Lee – investigating organized crime in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo take on a deadly Yakuza faction.Disregarding any other entertainment value, the main reason for seeing the film is the team-up between Lundgren and Lee. The two have a degree of chemistry and are fun to watch, and it's neat to see both of their distinctive styles of action play out within the same movie. However, even though Lee had just come off the dreadful LASER MISSION and does well enough for himself here, their collaboration is definitely more to the benefit of Dolph, who plays the straight man to Lee's comic relief and is presented as more culturally Asian than the character played by Bruce Lee's son. This (potentially) unintentional display of vanity sets the tone for a level of goofiness throughout the film that fits well with the action standard of yesteryear but won't necessarily appeal to viewers who have since learned that even comic book-style movies can be played seriously. Nothing against the script, but fewer jokes and less idolization of the archetypical action hero would have helped its legacy.The action content, focused on hand-to-hand fighting, is satisfying. This is probably the most martial arts that Lee performs in any movie other than RAPID FIRE, and even Lundgren lives up to his "karate man" image better than usual. The fact that the cast and stunt ensemble are packed with action regulars – from James Lew to Gerald Okamura – makes it a little disappointing that more of the fight scenes aren't showstoppers, but we get at least two pretty memorable bouts in the showdown between Lee and henchman Toshihiro Obata and the swordfight featuring Lundgren and supervillain Cary Tagawa. Lundgren's home invasion is likewise particularly satisfying as a rounded action scene, and the bath house brawl is memorable for several reasons. Retrospectively, it's disappointing that future action heroine Tia Carrere is relegated to damsel here, but she does what she can with the role and is given the welcome opportunity to contribute to the soundtrack.I still recommend this one to action fans, though more as a means of getting in on some nostalgia than as witnessing an objectively great adrenaline vehicle. Even with all its faults, SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO is worth an investment, and fans of either of the leading men will have an incomplete collection without this one. Check it out.

So again, what happened with the action movies today? Look here, you have it all. It is fast. It is fun. It has a memorable tune to accompany the action. It has remarkable characters, who by no means are deep or Shakespere type guys, they are just cool. It has one-liners. It has a smoking-hot looking girl. A little bit of nudity here and there. Couple of funny lines can be heard. Very colorful villain and his goons. It has that feeling of adventure. It is a quintessential action movie. For that reason it is so predictable and clichéd, but here, is it really a downfall? Can we get more of these, please? I am sick of a bloody messes and greedy mood in todays action movies. Can you take it a little easier, filmmakers? Or is it a thing of the past, meaning that will never get this style back again?