Bullet Points: Overkill
I wanted to use this VHS cover instead of the shitty Italian poster I found to give you an idea of just how much different this movie is than the one written about on the back of the tape. Holy shit…this could not have been a more disappointing 81 minutes if I had spent it learning Klingon and correcting inaccuracies in Star Trek: the Original Series. This movie was straight up terrible. To the point where a disclaimer should be put on the front of it DO NOT WATCH IF YOU VALUE YOUR TIME. They should replace all of the torture sequences in the old Chuck Norris Missing In Action movies with the Viet Cong forcing him to watch this garbage. Anyways, here’s my review.
The Gist: Police Detective Mickey Delano (Steve Rally), born and raised in California, has had enough of the Yakuza attempting to take over his Little Tokyo turf. Unfortunately for him, neither his captain nor the police chief believe his theory that the Yakuza is making a play as he suggests. His only backup will be the Tokyo law enforcement agent and brother of a slain Little Tokyo resident Akashi (John Nishio). Together they must use every tactic they know to halt the spread of the Yakuza.
Remember, Mickey is a cop…this is him taking a hostage and kidnapping her for several days.
The Cast: Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way now; lead actor Steve Rally is best known for his time as a Playgirl model (Playmate?) and he has no business being in any movie that doesn’t sell at your local Lion’s Den. His acting is atrocious. Almost as bad as the script, lighting, sound, editing, and all of the other things that went into making this film. To be honest, I saw this movie pop up on Netflix and thought that it didn’t sound half bad, why not give it a chance. Well it turns out that Netflix screwed up and put the picture for Overkill starring Aaron Norris throwing a sweet roundhouse kick on there instead of just a picture of steaming cow shit that should have been present. Back to the cast, the only member of this cast that shouldn’t immediately start swallowing sharp objects is probably Laura Burkett’s character, who should not take that as a compliment.
Netflix really screwed me on this one. I still might check this movie out though.
The Villain: The Yakuza. That is the villain. I couldn’t name the leader, or even pick him out of a line-up for you. This movie does just a terrible job of providing anything other than a shirtless Mickey Delano not actually being a police detective. The only villain that was memorable was the little shirtless dude who killed Mickey’s first partner and Akashi’s relatives. He was only memorable because they had to show him since they didn’t have enough Asian extras to play bad guys. That becomes very apparent when guys in ski masks start coming after Mickey and Akashi while at the Yakuza mansion.
Mickey and Akashi prepare to waste more of my valuable time.
The Action: This whole movie just revolves around Mickey finding ways to pop his shirt off. Well, he doesn’t really wear shirts but frayed denim vests most of the time. In one scene, he goes undercover as a stripper in order to try and find the Yakuza guys that he already visited at their home. Luckily he was interrupted before he pulled his dong out. The shoot-outs in this movie are so poorly edited and shot that it reminds me of the home movies I did back in 8th grade. Mickey’s lady friend is murdered by a woman hiding under a bed sheet like a 4 year old. It’s bizarre because she sits on the bed first and doesn’t realize that there is a person lying next to her. Mickey’s car also has a substantial role in the film since he transports three dead bodies in it at different times throughout the movie. Apparently there are no other members of Police or Emergency Services to do this. At one point, the Yakuza cover a man in a trash bag and run him over with their car. That’s what should happen to Ulli Lommel, who directed this steaming turd.
Action hero or sex offender?
Take it Home:
-Favorite quote: “I was born in California and I’m going to defend it!”
–Ancestry.com: Mickey’s says his uncle died at Pearl Harbor while eating his breakfast. “He had scrambled eggs mixed with blood in his mouth.”
–No $ for Rosetta Stone: They either forgot or they didn’t think it important to put in English subtitles when the Yakuza speak in Japanese.
–Do not Google: Unless you want some NSFW images of Steve Rally on your PC, stay away from the search engines on this one.
–More upsetting than Old Yeller: Worst ending to a movie I’ve seen in recent memory.
Rating: .5/5 Yes, that is half of one point.
Easily the most authentic Japanese restaurant in Little Tokyo.
