Simply A Masterpiece

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Toby Wong (Mark Dacascos) stowaways from Hong Kong on a freighter to America. He is escaping from the Chinese government who installed a prototype "biological energy module" in his chest. They are trying to recapture him without killing him or shooting him in the chest. Orders are given to Chinese operatives and local hired thug Vic Madison to shoot him only in the legs. Toby brings the fight to a local bar where Malik Brody (Kadeem Hardison) is hanging out. Toby takes Malik hostage. They get arrested by fake cops and handcuffed. They manage to escape. Toby is trying to get to L.A. to sell the module for $5 million and offers half to Malik. At a road side motel, they meet hyper-active clerk Deliverance Bodine (Brittany Murphy).This is a straight to video movie with a certain B-movie charm. There is plenty of fight action and gun action. Dacascos' charisma is limited but better than many. Hardison is a lesser black sidekick. Brittany Murphy comes in much later around 45 minutes and really camps it up for about 30 minutes. It's a mindless popcorn action movie that has some weird camp fun value. Although Murphy needs to stay in more of the movie to maintain its campiness. Dacascos' singing is the bad kind of camp.

A vehicle for Mark Dacascos's martial arts talents cunningly masquerading as a thriller, this basic actioner has little plot to speak of and no real acting. What it does have are a string of incredible martial arts sequences, the likes of which have never been seen before in an American film, which make it extremely enjoyable. Not bad for a DTV flick, and ever since interest in the martial arts resurfaced after the blockbuster hit THE MATRIX, this even went so far as to get a DVD release! Things kick off with Dacascos arriving in the US after stowing away on a boat. Immediately he's up to his neck in bad guys who want to shoot him in the legs. After a battle on the boat, he escapes to a bar, where another gun fight ensues and Dacascos takes out about ten of the enemy single-handedly. He hooks up with a failed black writer, who provides much of the film's comic relief, and the two go on the run. They variously get handcuffed together, fight off more bad guys, hide in a motel which is then exploded and finally take on the entire force of baddies in a karaoke bar (a location which also gives the supremely talented Dacascos time to work on his warbling skills).I would instantly say that this has to be Mark Dacascos' best film. Since DRIVE, he has starred in cheap rip-offs (DNA), and loads of straight-to-video trash (THE BASE, SABOTAGE, etc.). This is the only film where he really impresses with his fighting skills, as none of the other flicks really give him a chance. His acting range may be limited, but he's a nice enough guy and the things he does with his body to turn it into a weapon are phenomenal. Here, Dacascos has strong support from Kadeem Hardison who excels in his comic relief role, Brittany Murphy, who makes the most of her seductive young girl in love with Hardison, and a whole slew of comic-book villains.For action fans, this is a must see. Sure, there's a fair share of huge explosions and gun fights, but the martial arts fights are the things that really work. From a battle in a motel room where Dacascos takes on about twenty men armed with electric shock prods to the final, prolonged battle between our hero and an advanced super model, things never let up. Super-fast editing, cool stunts and lots of wacky situations (one bad guy gets his arm cut off with a chainsaw, and then the severed limb manages to shoot him!) make this one to watch. Highly recommended!

This unknown movie maybe one of the best action movies I have seen. To my surprise everything works. Mark Dacascos is great. This is one of the few where he has gotten the chance to show what he can do. Kadeem Harrison isn't annoying in the supporting role and has some good chemistry with Dacascos. Even Brittany Murphy performs well. Although again she plays a socially awkward but endearing character. I wonder how much of that is acted and how much of it is real. It is very fascinating since it is hard to tell whether she is insane or just happily disturbed.Like I said the action is top notch. MD delivers on this front like he did in Crying Freeman. Very reminiscent of Hong Kong style action. And this should not be a total surprise since Koichi Sakamoto and the Alpha Stunt Team was behind the stunts for Drive. They were attached to the Power Rangers franchise if that means anything to you. The martial arts sometimes is used in combination with wireworks. But it is not obvious. In this way it intensifies the action scenes. I must admit that the climax: fight between MD and other "super" man could have been much longer but still it is a great finale. The main highlight is the sequence in the motel where we get introduced to Brittanny Murphy's character. It's a very long but very rewarding scene interchanged with a lot of comedic bits. For a low budget production the movie looks great. The plot is adequate and provides a good background for the main characters. (At least it was in my version: director's cut).Overall it is a very fun and fast paced movie and still holds up today.

This is one of Dacascos' best films (unspeakable shame that most of his stuff is straight-to-video). First let's dispense with the downside. The main shame of this is that the effects are pretty cheesy and some of the scenes are absurd: primarily the Britney Murphey cheering section of the film (her involvement at all is nothing to brag about) and the singing portions in the bar at the end.Now the upside: this is some of the best action that Dacascos has ever done. His fight sequences are phenomenal (except that he can't shoot a gun worth crap, but then he doesn't really need to); the fight with the cronies at the hotel and the advanced model at the end are spectacular. Kadeem Hardison is a pretty good sidekick. Even the acting in much of the film is nothing to complain about (except again for Britney Murphey playing her moron character with a crush on Kadeem).Don't approach this movie with much intellect. Just go with a desire to see some incredible martial arts action and a couple of good explosions and you will enjoy yourself.