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RAPID
FIRE (1992)
Reviewed
by Phil Mills
When
Brandon Lee was chosen to play the lead in this modern day
kung fu flick, it was always obvious that it would be marketed
with more than a passing nod to his heritage. Thankfully
though, the actual content owes more to the current crop of
martial arts movies as opposed to the ones made by his father.
At the time of production, it was the Van Damme, Seagal and
Snipes films that were going down a storm in the box office so
director Dwight H. Little decided to use those influences to
craft a very 80's style actioner.
Jake
Lo (Lee) is a Chinese-American student who has been left
traumatised after his father is killed in the Tianamen square
massacre. When he is roped into a protest he
accidentally witnesses a cold blooded murder performed by gang
boss Antonio Serrano (Mancuso) and is taken into custody by
the FBI to act as a witness. However, the mob have other
plans and with the assistance of a few inside men they attempt
to take Lo out before he gets to testify. What they
didn't bank on was Jake's ability in martial arts and he
escapes only to become a wanted man by both sides of the law.
Seemingly alone with no one to turn to, Lo is discovered by
undercover police officer Mace Ryan (Boothe) and is perceived
as a window of opportunity with which to infiltrate the
underworld. Surely with his fighting skills and the long
arm of the law behind him Jake can take out the entire gang
but you can just never guarantee anything.
The
story for 'Rapid Fire' certainly has it's roots firmly planted
in the Hollywood style of highly predictable action films with
only the use of a recent true-to-life tragedy (Tianamen
Square) as a hint of anything remotely new. This fairly
routine technique of filmmaking does little to enhance 'Rapid
Fire' and what we are presented with is a somewhat one
dimensional plot that breaks down as just the story of a seemingly
superhuman martial artist against numerous bad guys.
Inside this bland housing various relationships are also
introduced but unfortunately they generally come off rather
poorly and do little for the actual substance of the
movie. In particular, the supposed father/son bonding
between Ryan and Lo is extremely badly scripted and not only
does it place the two characters in uncomfortable situations
but also clearly leaves the actors baffled by their
motivation. The one saving grace though is the actual
acting credibility that sees Powers Boothe turn in another
strong hard-as-nails cop performance and Lee emerging as an
obvious talent with a real knack for delivering the perfect
smart ass dialogue when required.
In
all honesty though, when it comes to action films stories are
handy but what you all really came to see here was the action
and in 'Rapid Fire' when it comes, it is really of two
differing standards. The Hong Kong influence is
definitely eminent throughout and probably brought to the
production by Lee (who participated in the fight choreography)
with a certain Wing Chun style to most of the movements along
with some borrowed stunts from a couple of Jackie Chan films.
This is where the film excels and the final fight against bit
player extraordinaire Al Leong is of a very high standard with
some interesting kicks and weapon work even if it is a little
on the short side. The film's downfall occurs in the
typically predictable American way of producing crimes against
camera angles which take place in the editing suite. For
certain duels here it is far too easy to see when the blows
don't make a connection and this can really spoil some of the
more climactic fight scenes. Perhaps a more accomplished
director would have taken the time to choose the angles
carefully or even re-shoot scenes to avoid such a calamitous
mistake that truly does affect one of the major ingredients
for a film in this genre. Thankfully though, these
moments are in the minority but are worth mentioning because
they may detract from some people's enjoyment of what is an
otherwise well constructed set of sequences.
Overall,
as American action movies go this isn't a bad effort and the
presence of Lee et al make it a worthwhile watch but it's easy
to see why it was not a commercial hit. It really lacks
the final notch to push it above so many films that have come
before and as such, emerges more as a higher graded
B-Movie rather than premiership material.
Rating:
  
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