What happens with multiple fans - Showdown in Little Tokyo Primer

[grey_bard]

So, you put two fans in one house for more than a couple days and you have a better than even chance of creating a new fandom. Well, a new mini-fandom at least.

Showdown in Little Tokyo is one of the slashiest enjoyably dumb action films out there, and quite possibly the slashiest thing to break Rule 34. Yes, it breaks Rule 34, as far as Mosellegreen and I can tell - if anyone has written or drawn for it, we have yet to find it.

So, erm. We created a comm. Showdown Tokyo. And a primer! Which you can see below.


This is Brandon Lee. You may remember him from The Crow and Rapid Fire. His father was also sort of famous. In this movie, his character is Johnny Murata. Murata is charming, smart and delightfully snarky. Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, he finds suggestions that he should "embrace his culture" both hilarious and dumb, particularly when coming from this guy....


This is Dolph Lundgren. He starred in Universal Soldier and Black Jack, among many other movies about shooting people. Yes, he was in He Man, but he learned to speak English and act really well, honest! He spends half the movie shirtless. His character, the police detective Chris Kenner, grew up in Japan and bought into the samurai thing perhaps a little *too* much.


What is it? Delightfully cheesy early 90's action flick.

What is it about? Highly slashy cop team-up between characters played by Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundgren.

Why is it so great? Showdown In Little Tokyo is many, many things that fans like, all wrapped up in one compact 78 minute package. A hilariously cheesy and over the top early 90's action film, one of the most brain-meltingly slashy things ever marketed to straight men and a surprisingly smart and funny (for an early 90's over the top action film) jab at cultural and martial arts stereotypes. Er, if you're only paying attention to the heroes. The villains, they are made of cardboard! But come on, consider the genre.

What rating is it and why? Rated R for non-gory excessive movie violence, topless women and R-rated language.

How slashy is it? A lot, trust me. Aside from having so much chemistry that the scenes which are supposed to have dramatic tension between them come off as amused mutual cruising and the usually "JUST HAVE SEX, ALREADY!" slashy movie subtext... There's this scene.

It is the gayest *text* *canon* *dialogue* I have seen in something marketed to straight men. Straight men, once aware of the concept of slash, have been known to become unable to watch this scene without slash goggles, like it or not! Seriously, what were they thinking? Not that I mind!

It 's under a minute long, go watch it. I'll be waiting here until you finish it and come back. Seriously, go watch.

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVF-TMpKBHs

Spoiler text here for people who can't get youtube or the download. Note: Minako is the woman Kenner has just had sex with several minutes before.

Murata: Where's Minako?

Kenner: She's in my room.

Murata: I knew that was going to happen.

Kenner: She was frightened.

Murata: I saw you strip down for that hot tub. I'd be frightened too!

Irrelevant dialogue goes here

Murata: Kenner, just in case we get killed, I wanted to tell you. You have the biggest dick I've ever seen on a man.

Kenner (grins): Thanks, what do I say to that?

Murata: How about don't get killed?

Kenner: Don't get killed.


Okay, after this point there are spoilers for the plot of the movie. If you don't want to read them, don't. You've been warned.

 
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So, what's the plot? Um. What plot? Well, it's a typical 90's action flick one. Chris Kenner is a police detective working out of Los Angeles's Little Tokyo neighborhood because he speaks fluent Japanese. A martial arts enthusiast with a tendency to kick people in the head first and ask questions later, he gets dumped by police partners on a regular basis due to being, you know, totally insane.

Johnny Murata is his new police partner, assigned to Little Tokyo because he's of part Japanese descent. He's not exactly thrilled about that - he'd prefer to work somewhere a little ritzier or with a beach - but he does seem to take to Kenner pretty fast.

On the trail of a murder, Kenner discovers one of the suspects is from the Yakuza gang that killed his parents and immediately loses it in a cheesy 90's action film way. Time for a trail of crazed vengeance, even as his stoic facade never cracks! Although they've never met before today, Murata has a car fight with him when Kenner suggests that he go home and leave the murderous vengeance to crazy people. Murata suggests that Kenner gets his revenge in a legal modern cop fashion and this lasts... about fifteen minutes before Kenner starts killing gangsters randomly. OH WELL.

Also, there's a plot about drugs being smuggled in beer bottles and a nightclub singer played by Tia Carrere being held captive by the baddies.

A lot of martial arts, fights to the death and excessive shirtlessness ensue.

 
What about the funny? 

Ah, Kenner's house. Why am I not surprised that it looks like this?





Kenner: I built it myself Minako: Somehow I guessed that. 

The levels of carnage are hilarious. A typical day at the office apparently includes...

Attempted arrest at a bathhouse


Naked armed yakuza


And ending in a flaming wheel of death.

 
What about the hotness?

There's side by side half-naked bondage at the hands of villains.


Gratuitous shirtlessness


And random acts of hotness.




But what about the girl?

Tia Carrere plays a hot nightclub singer taken prisoner by the head Yakuza member for nefarious purposes. Kenner saves her. Later, they do sex. If you were rescued by someone who looked like Dolph Lundgren, you might want to have sex with him too! There's no suggestion of undying - or even passing - love here, so if Kenner moves on to sex with his partner, no one is going to get hurt.  No infidelity or misogyny issues here.

 
Is there anything I might not like about it? If shirtless Dolph Lundgren is a turn off for you... you're watching the wrong movie. Also, I repeat, early 90's R-rated action film. Here there be topless women, badly written villains and gratuitous cartoon violence.
 
Where can I get it? It is available on dvd, frequently airs on television, and has been out in one format or another for nearly twenty years. I suspect you won't have a problem laying hands on it.
 
Where can I find fanworks for it? Um, there aren't any yet, that we know of. But if you do create or find any, please consider posting or linking them to the new Showdown in Little Tokyo comm showdowntokyo

Comments

[jmtorres]

If shirtless Dolph Lundgren is a turn off for you...

*snort* Whoops?

[grey_bard]

Yep! I don't find it a turn on myself, but there's more than enough Brandon Lee, slashy chemistry and general hilarity to make up for it since I don't find Bare Lundgrenitude to be an actual squick.

But boy, if I did, I would be in trouble! A *definite* whoops!