Starring: Brandon Lee, Kate Hodge and Powers Boothe 

THE STORY:  Quick...who was a better actor? Brandon Lee or his dad, Bruce Lee? I'm asking because I don't know the answer myself. (Well, I lie...Bandon was better in acting, but didn't have as much presence...) Bruce Lee wasn't going to be doing any Shakespeare had he lived, but then Bruce's movies weren't popular because the crowd wanted to see him emote. People wanted to see him whoop a lot of ass and that he did. Brandon Lee however, has to act in his movies a little more than his father did. I haven't seen a lot of his movies at this time, and I can tell you he was kind of wooden in this one. I wonder what kind of roles he might have played had he lived.

Lee is Jake Lo, and to be honest I though Jake was an asshole. He's kind of self centered and smug. He's an art student and when a group of student protesters ask him to speak on their behalf at a fundraiser for their Anti-China Human Rights group he turns them down and not with a lot of tact. Well, I can kind of understand that. Jake's father was a US intelligence officer and Jake saw him get killed in Tienanmen Square. Its not something he likes to talk about. As a matter of fact, Jake has an anti-politics attitude. In other words he doesn't give a [unwrite]. (This guy's a hero?)

Well, he's tricked into showing up at the fundraiser where he accidentally witnesses mob boss Tony Serrano (Nick Mancuso) killing a rival criminal. Serrano's upset that his former messenger boy Tao has moved to Thailand (I think) and become the head honcho of Heroin there. He wanted a piece of the action, Tao turned him down and Serrano decided to just kill Tao's henchman in the states and muscle in the action. Since Jake saw him blow the guy away he becomes a target for Serrano and a key witness for the feds in their case against the Mafia. Jake is flown to a safehouse in Chicago where....surprise!...the FBI agents guarding him turn out to be on the take and try to kill him. Jake uses his martial arts skills to escape and he's lucky. Police Lieutenant Mace Windu...Oops...I mean Mace Ryan (Powers Boothe) has gotten wind of the situation and steps in to save the guy. Ryan's been after Serrano for years and wants to use Jake as bait to trap him. Fore some reason though Ryan's HQ is in a Bowling Alley. Those police budget cutbacks must have hit hard!

There aren't too many shocks in this movie folks, and there's not supposed to be. Its basically a thin story stretched out to give Lee people to karate insensate. My only problem isn't the implausibility the police actually putting Jake in such a dangerous position or even that no one actually manages to hit him with a firearm at close range...its the tacked on love scene between Jake and Ryan's partner Karla Withers. Come on, how long has she known this guy? A day? and then she's willing to sleep with him just like that (and supposedly they're in love now) I would have loved if she invited Jake back to her place and then introduced him to her husband instead of deciding to get laid. Yeah, we wouldn't have a sex scene then, but I could live with that. I guess its a screenwriting rule in action movies that the hero has to get some no matter what.

I don't have to tell you that Jake and Ryan build a respect for each other after initially not liking the other do I?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?:

1.) Why is it in movies with the mob in them, are there lots of scenes where the boss and his goons are seen eating in an Italian restaurant. I'm not saying it doesn't happen in real life, but Serrano and his boys seem to be eating all of the time in this movie. Do they ever leave this restaurant and you know, commit crimes? If art imitates life all the feds have to do is cut of the pasta supply to any major city. The mob would simply starve to death.

2.) The whole FBI agents trying to kill Jake is silly if you think about it. How were these agents going to explain it? One of them said they were going to claim Jake killed the one FBI agent that was honest and then tried to kill them, and yeah, Jake probably could have killed them since he's a 500 degree black belt or something. But he has absolutely NO REASON to go nuts and kill the agents guarding him!! Doesn't the FBI test these guys IQ's or anything?

3.) I'm going to say it again...How does Withers all of a sudden just decide to fall in love and have sex with Jake. Are you going to tell me that an attractive woman like her has no social life until Jake arrives? That she's so hard up for well, you know, that she's willing to bed a guy she's known only for a day or so? Dammit...how come I never met any of those women when I was single?

4.) When Serrano kills the bad guy FBI agent in his restaurant I had to wonder why he did it right there. Being a movie though there's not a lot of bleeding but if Serrano had hoped to get away this murder why kill him in the restaurant? There'd be way too much stuff to clean and hide the evidence.

5.) The amount of firepower that Serrano's goons have inside of this restaurant is ridiculous. If Ryan was really after him for all these years then supposedly the cops have been there before to search the place. They had a machine gun hidden with a drop cloth for Pete's Sake!

NUDITY AND SEX:  Jake and Withers have sex.

HUH?:  How can Ryan justify putting Jake in such a dangerous position? Doesn't he have to answer to anyone? Doesn't the Chicago police department have any regulations about endangering civilians. If Jake had been killed what was Ryan going to say?

Um...why is Ryan's office...in a BOWLING ALLEY!!! It makes no sense. Even if its some kind of temporary HQ for his Serrano-busting case, its in plain sight in the Bowling Alley. Wouldn't a back room or the office be a little less conspicuous? Ryan and his team have their stuff set up somewhere in between where you get your bowling shoes and the bar! Actually that's so stupid I laughed heartily.

The chief crooked FBI agent has some wife. After his failed attempt to kill Jake, Ryan brings him to his house. Jake beats the snot of him and breaks furniture with his head the instance the guy opens the door. His wife comes in and he says "Its alright honey." so she leaves. Man, I'd hope my wife wouldn't be dismissed as easily if a guy comes to our home and begins to kick my ass.

THE FINAL JUDGMENT: One thing this movie isn't is dull...its paced well enough that there really aren't any moments when nothing is going on. Yeah, there are brainless bits but I enjoyed it.