Muscle Heat (2002)

So much average

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Even the final credits of the movie are good,just because of that great song ("Ready or not?We're gonna be on top!").From the start to the last scene is cool (slow in some parts,but yet,good). Now,for the actors,I found Kane Kosagi very weird.To tell the truth,I don't if It's his acting or just the character,but It can be the first one. That actress who played Akane Katsuragi,Jesus Christ,WHAT A F****** UGLY GIRL,GUYS!Her acting is decent,but even the make-up failed in make her face a bit cute,at least!I really don't understand Asian standards of beauty.Looks like every Asian crap can show its face on media!!! That girl who was always following the baddies around is very beautiful,but got one or two lines. And Masaya Kato...!Oh,my god,this man drives me crazy!!!He is so handsome and talented!People say "OH,Kane Kosugi is back,he is the son of that guy who..." but I say "So good too see Masaya again!".He is thinner than usual in this one,but I believe that this was the only way to keep Kane Kosugi from being overshadowed by him!No matter what you say,that is what I think! Sho Aikawa is ridiculous.The infamous exaggerated Japanese acting;However the guy who played the leader of the "rats" was very cool.

Although the title sounds like it came from an '80s dance movie or a low-budget porn, "Muscle Heat" is actually a fairly decent action movie. Starring Kane Kosugi as Joe (son of Sho Kosugi), it takes place in Tokyo in 2009, although isn't really far out enough to be considered sci-fi. Joe is a US marine who is courtmartialed for refusing to follow orders (revolving around shooting kids), and he is set free by Aikawa Show, who plays Japanese detective Aguri Katsuragi, and given "amnesty" (for reasons that are unclear) to go to Japan (which is in a severe depression and has pretty much gone to hell) to work with Aguri in stopping the illegal drug trade in "blood heat", a powerful and addictive drug, and stopping the lead dealer, Rai (played by Masayo Kato, from Beat Takeshi's "Brother", and Takashi Miike's "Araburu Tamashitachi"). Even though Kane's acting ability consists of a permanent scowl, the actions scenes are good, solid martial arts fighting, and good gunfight action, reminiscent of "Returner". The Sledgehammer fight scene at the end is something new, and worth a look. Not much in the way of complicated plot, but Aikawa Show is always worth a look when he is shooting people, and even though Kane Kosugi isn't much of an actor, he knows how to throw an impressive kick. And keep an eye out for Takenaka Naoto, who plays a greasy street bookie - I swear that guy is in every Japanese movie ever made...

I have to say that despite having one of the worst titles ever, I really enjoyed this action film. Watching Kane Kosugi with his dad in the 80's, it is clear that he not only improved but action wise, he is better than what I used to see from him in the 80's. The plot is a typical B-movie by standards, but man was the action awesome. Seeing Kane spin in the air to do a split kick knocking two guys down is just astonishing...oh and look for Jackie Chan for literally 1 second in the opening before Shinya Hashimoto fights Ken Lo. Awesome film...Kane Kosugi is back!!!

PLOT: An American soldier, locked up for disobeying orders, gets sprung from prison by a Japanese detective looking for help to fight a new drug. They go to Japan, where the detective is subsequently killed, leaving the American to battle the druglord himself."Muscle Heat" is an awful title, but the movie itself isn't so bad. There's a lot of awful stuff in-between the action scenes, but it's the action scenes that sell the movie. Kane Kosugi, whose father I consider something of a perseonal God, does all right as the Japanese-American lost in Japan. Although Kane seems more comfortable punching and kicking someone in the face then doing dramatic scenes, he's still a much more natural actor than his fellow action brethrens like, say, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jean Claude Van Damme-I-Can't-Act.So go in "Muscle Heat" for the action, because nothing else is fleshed out enough to really care about. And although the drug is supposed to be this big bad drug, how is it possible that it's such a plague if the Japanese cops don't even bother to crack down on it? I mean, there's this big industrial place where the drugload hangs out, sends people to their death in his Muscle Dome on a nightly basis, and the cops don't seem to give a hoot. ANd yet we see all this poster and news reporters about how bad the drug, Blood Heat, is, but the only people I ever see taking it are the people who fight in the Muscle Dome!Anyways. Good action, and Kane Kosugi is something to look out for. He just needs a better script and to, from now on, avoid this whole Tournament Fighting thing. Tournament Fighting movies are just so...Van Damme-ish.