Red Sun Rising
Director: Francis Megahy
Year: 1994
Rating:
5.5
Don The Dragon Wilson comes to America, kicks
ass and has to listen to a lot of dumb ass anti-Japanese comments. After
his partner in the Japanese police force is killed by king pin Yazuka Yamata's
(Oh Soon-tek) number one killer Jaho (James Lew), they all come to America.
In Japan the police chief blames him for his partner's death and says "I
should have expected this. You are only half Japanese". Ouch. Wilson was
in fact half Japanese and born in the USA. From his record in kick boxing
matches, he is considered by many to be the best kick boxer ever. I have
to admit that this is my first of his films that I have seen but not the
last. Very impressed. If only he had gone to Hong Kong or Japan to work with
Chiba. Instead, he was in a series of American B action films. In that same
orbit as Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Dolph Lundgren and others. There is
a whole world of fans who love those films from the 80s and 90s. This was
fairly traditional and predictable but pretty enjoyable. A lot of action
and the two main adversaries are a fine match for one another. Lew
is no slouch and was inducted into the Kung Fu Magazine's Martial Art's Greats.
He is a very mean looking mother as he snaps necks of women.
Once Hoshino (Wilson - Hoshino was his name
when he fought professionally in Japan) reaches America he gets Sgt. Ryder
(Terry Farrell - Deep Space Nine) to chaperone him. Within minutes she asks
him if he speaks "Engrish", blames him for the collapse of the car industry,
her father's death and that when Japanese speak together, they sound like
a car transmission. Needless to say, they end up in bed together. He goes
to stay with his dead partner's uncle who had trained Hoshino as a child.
The door opens and of course it is Mako. You know it had to be either him
or Pat Morita. Mako always makes me smile for some reason. He later has to
do some more training and Mako hits him with "Name the anger before you can
tame it" and "See the things that can't be seen". When not spitting out bits
of wisdom, he has two helper around the house.
Yamata and Jaho are in L.A. to start a gang
war between a black gang and a Latin gang so that they can sell them weapons.
Both kind of raggedy-ass gangs to tell the truth. Where is the profit margin
in that. Jaho is some sort of master martial artist and when he takes a liquid
his eyes turn as blue as a sunny spring day. He has powers too and keeps
beating up Hoshino. Till Hoshino of course names the anger. There is a ton
of fighting though most of it is against guys who stand there like bowling
pins but Wilson gets to display some real skills which are very cool.
