Rapid Fire (1992)

Rapid Fire, Lengthy Reload

After the consummate disaster that was "Laser Mission", the late Brandon Lee needed a new vehicle to reintroduce himself as a potential solo star to the American action scene, and "Rapid Fire" came at just the right time. However, while there's no denying that Lee's fifth starring picture is a neat action flick, the fact that it remains a tad mediocre in terms of storyline, action, and characters persistently lets on throughout the film, leaving it less noteworthy than fans of Lee might want to admit.

Jake Lo (Lee) is a Chinese-American student and martial artist whose parents died during the events of Tiananmen Square. After witnessing a murder between the American mafia and the Chinese drug cartel, Jake is placed under police protection but flees the cops when internal corruption threatens his life as well. Dodging both gangsters and crooked policemen, he must place his trust in a squad of renegade officers seeking to bring down the faction of the underworld Jake has been witness to.

If anything, "Rapid Fire" hints that had his life not been cut short, Lee would've been on his way to become one of the definitive stars of the action era. While the film is less remarkable, Lee is versatile in effectively switching between the actor and the fighting machine: his kung fu is good, and he's miles ahead of the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme or Arnold Schwarzenegger when it comes to acting.
The supporting cast does fine as well: the movie allows for a bit more character depth than other action flicks, and co-stars Powers Booth ("Deadwood") and Raymond Berry ("Steel City") in particular use this added freedom well.

However, the most important aspect of the movie - the fight scenes - is a hit-and-miss: to break it down, the scenes in the club and the in the laundromat are good, the one in the hotel is decent, and the first one at the gathering is rather poor. While Lee certainly has the moves, the choreography and camerawork in these parts tend to be a bit lacking, and give the impression that he's not as good as he really is.
In addition, the film is terrifically bland in its story. It literally feels as though the director was going down a checklist of action-movie clichés (the obligatory romance angle, Lee boneheadedly struggling with his dead father's legacy, etc.) and sticking them in the movie wherever they seemed to fit; this is the basic complaint with most action features, and I'm sorry to say that it afflicted this one rather badly.

While it's obvious that "Rapid Fire' isn't about to match "The Crow", it also fails to measure up to many other action-adventures of the time - be it "Under Siege", "Timecop", or "Commando"...but that doesn't mean that it isn't a good movie. Though slightly disappointing, "Rapid Fire" is enough to make you miss Brandon Lee and make you dream of what he might've contributed to film if he had lived longer. For now, this movie will remain in the back of my shelf, but I'm sure it won't be all too long before I dig it out for another watch. June 14, 2008

Brandon Lee..., What Can I Say ?

Well i can say that it's 2 bad Brandon is gone because i've argued many times of where he possibly be 2day! This movie was the start of putting his creative martial arts ability on screen. The fight scenes were great, even had decent story line. it could've had more action though .... but i'm just a fan who got spoiled! 2 thumbs up!!! July 25, 2007

very strong addition to a martial arts movie collection

For any martial arts movie fans out there, Rapid Fire is a must own. This is a well-made martial arts film, but also stars a great martial artist - the late Brandon Lee (son of the great Bruce Lee). Brandon may not have the skills of his father (who ever has?), but he is wonderful to watch in action, with a fluidity and gracefullness to all his moves. Rapide Fire has it all - a good lead, great action, and a story that actually works hard.

The film is made well. Picture quality and sound are all good. There is a ton of action, combining lots of gun fire & exlposions with large amounts of kung-fu. Between the action scenes, unlike most martial art films, there is plot, and plenty of it. The story is actually more 3-dimensional, if you will, compared to many action movies. The actors do a decent job, and their characters actually have some presence.

The action is probably what its all about when one thinks about purchasing this film. The action is not only a plenty, but superb. Brandon Lee can obviously make any fight scene look great, and the choreographer and camera man knew what they were doing in this film. The fights are just wonderful and I am pleased to see that there was little editing done. The final fight in the film takes place on the Subway tracks at night - quite cool and original. Though it is a nice little final fight, there are a few more one on one's I loved even more involving Brandon Lee throughout the film.

Rapid Fire is one of the better martial art movies out there. It has everything. If you don't enjoy this, you may want to stay away from the majority of martial arts films. July 19, 2007

great fight sequences and screen presence of Brandon Lee elavate this movie

i watched this movie a long time ago,and remember it as being nothing short of awesome.i guess our tastes change as we grow older.anyway,after watching it last night,i found myself disappointed.don't get me wrong,i still think it's a fairly decent movie.the problem is that many movies of this genre are fairly decent.(and some of course are not so decent)i think there are 2 things that set this movie apart from others. one thing is how fantastic and spectacular the fight scenes are.the other is the charisma and screen presence of the late Brandon Lee.without those 2 components,this movie would be maybe a bit above average.as it is this movie gets 3.5/5 March 21, 2007

Great action movie

I saw this movie as a kid and like it to this day. Brandon was an awesome martial artist and had so much potential, it's very tragic he and his father were taken so young. What they left behind has paved the way for action movies and they will always be remembered. As far as movies go this one has intense action, good characters, strong plot with a dash of romance and decent acting for this type of film. This movie would be ok for teenagers but not for young kids, it has a LOT of violence, some cursing and a hot love scene! This can be a good movie night choice for couples, guys will like the action and women will like the bedroom scene featuring Lee's amazing ABS! November 11, 2006

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