[12] "The proportion of Americans who do not consider Japan a dependable
partner rose to 42 pct over the past year, a survey commissioned by
Japan's foreign ministry shows. Major reasons given were fierce
economic competition, Japan's attack in 1941 on Pearl Harbour, and the
selfishness of Japanese people". This news item goes some way to
explaining why the villains in Showdown are Japanese, but xenophobia
aside, it's not a bad film, adding a few twists to the 'mismatched
cop' cliche - Lundgren is the pure American hero, obsessed with
Japanese culture; Lee is his half-Eastern partner who couldn't
give a damn about it. They take on the "slopeheads", rescue a damsel
in distress (mostly as an excuse for a very bad pun), learn to respect
each other, and make comments about Dolph's penis. At the risk of
repeating myself, "Probably reprehensible, but did you expect anything
else?"
C+
