When you name hack-ass Albert Pyun as your director you have to expect a train wreck on screen. And when David Carradine and Carmen Elektra are your star powers you have little hope at finding an audience. All of this synergy comes to pass on this long stewing mess of an action film that makes little sense and makes the least out of a tropical setting.
As an opener we watch a tepid heist take place where a Jade dragon statue is stolen. Next we meet Max, a former kick-boxing champ turned sports photographer, as he submits shots of a motocross race to his manager. Max has fallen into this profession after accidentally killing a man in the ring. In case you do not pick up on this detail Pyun will replay this scene of tragedy close to two dozen times. Max's agent tells him he next has a cushy assignment to shoot promo spots for a beach resort. Next we see the statue getting pawned with an antiques buyer named Tahsi, (Richard Roundtree) and soon Jane, a gorgeous art dealer, nabs the expensive dragon for pennies on the dollar. Tashi turns out to be Max's former trainer who naturally turned antiquities broker. A Japanese syndicate arrives to reclaim their prized artifact, and Max has to protect the pretty gal and her sister.
Max, Tahsi, Jane, the thief, and the Japanese syndicate all converge together on, of all places, the island of Guam. Why does Max's assignment, Tahsi's shop, and the sister's vacation, as well as the thieves attempt at fencing stolen goods, all take place on this remote spit of land way out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Certainly it would have nothing to do with the government of Guam bankrolling this ludicrous production in the hopes of luring future Hollywood projects on their island. For close to a million dollars they got German soap opera performer Mickey Hardt in the lead, while Carmen Elektra was reportedly paid $100 thousand to appear in four scenes, two of which requires she only look into the camera and smile. All told she utters maybe four lines of dialogue, justifying getting featured on the cover. Carradine is simply there to collect a paycheck and for his part spent a day at a Hollywood studio, but he is seen throughout the film, courtesy of the endless flashbacks we endure.
Pyun the auteur gives us repeated scenes shot in hotel rooms and hallways, slapdash action sequences that are edited with a butcher cleaver, and moronic dialogue that is distracted away with cleavage. And every single scene has to begin with exterior shots of a building, a-la 1970's TV detective dramas. It turns out the dragon is an urn, holding some remains of the Yakuza founder, but Jane needs to sell it for her sister to go to college. Max steps in to avenge the death of Tahsi and save the gal, and we are left with only one thought: the director and producers should be punished for this dung heap. I would suggest banishment to a remote island out in the middle of the ocean.
As an opener we watch a tepid heist take place where a Jade dragon statue is stolen. Next we meet Max, a former kick-boxing champ turned sports photographer, as he submits shots of a motocross race to his manager. Max has fallen into this profession after accidentally killing a man in the ring. In case you do not pick up on this detail Pyun will replay this scene of tragedy close to two dozen times. Max's agent tells him he next has a cushy assignment to shoot promo spots for a beach resort. Next we see the statue getting pawned with an antiques buyer named Tahsi, (Richard Roundtree) and soon Jane, a gorgeous art dealer, nabs the expensive dragon for pennies on the dollar. Tashi turns out to be Max's former trainer who naturally turned antiquities broker. A Japanese syndicate arrives to reclaim their prized artifact, and Max has to protect the pretty gal and her sister.
Max, Tahsi, Jane, the thief, and the Japanese syndicate all converge together on, of all places, the island of Guam. Why does Max's assignment, Tahsi's shop, and the sister's vacation, as well as the thieves attempt at fencing stolen goods, all take place on this remote spit of land way out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Certainly it would have nothing to do with the government of Guam bankrolling this ludicrous production in the hopes of luring future Hollywood projects on their island. For close to a million dollars they got German soap opera performer Mickey Hardt in the lead, while Carmen Elektra was reportedly paid $100 thousand to appear in four scenes, two of which requires she only look into the camera and smile. All told she utters maybe four lines of dialogue, justifying getting featured on the cover. Carradine is simply there to collect a paycheck and for his part spent a day at a Hollywood studio, but he is seen throughout the film, courtesy of the endless flashbacks we endure.
Pyun the auteur gives us repeated scenes shot in hotel rooms and hallways, slapdash action sequences that are edited with a butcher cleaver, and moronic dialogue that is distracted away with cleavage. And every single scene has to begin with exterior shots of a building, a-la 1970's TV detective dramas. It turns out the dragon is an urn, holding some remains of the Yakuza founder, but Jane needs to sell it for her sister to go to college. Max steps in to avenge the death of Tahsi and save the gal, and we are left with only one thought: the director and producers should be punished for this dung heap. I would suggest banishment to a remote island out in the middle of the ocean.