"The Perfect Weapon," which was anything but perfect, has entered a crowded field. In a broad sense it is a martial arts movie, but if we wanted to strip it down to a more specific genotype, then we could call it a modern Western martial arts movie (meaning the main character is a Westerner unlike a Jet Li or Jackie Chan). Even in that case the movie came along after the likes of "Karate Kid," or more similarly, any Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, or Jean Claude Van Damme movie. And the latter two stars were fairly popular in 1991 when "The Perfect Weapon" was released.
If it wasn't enough that "The Perfect Weapon" was competing with better stars and better movies, it failed to distinguish itself in any way. It borrowed so many plot pieces from other movies that even the actors were being reused. They even made revenge the main motivation for the muscular martial artist.
The whole movie was rather unoriginal and brainless. The main character, Jeff, was kicked out of the house by his father as a teenager because he got into a fight and injured the other kid. The punishment certainly didn't fit the crime. Kicking a teenager out of the house was an extreme punishment for beating up a boy who'd just slapped the piss out of his brother. Even if I wanted to discourage such violence I definitely would encourage my sons to stick up for one another. But let's explore that fight shall we.
Jeff's brother, Adam, was mouthing off big time to a big offensive lineman in helmet and pads. The lineman had enough and backhanded Adam making his nosebleed. Jeff then, through a series of kicks, broke the lineman's face mask and knocked the guy out. PLEASE! Those helmets and face masks were made to protect against head on collisions with 300 pound linemen crashing into each other down after down and I'm supposed to believe that a 170 pound Kenpo Karate Kid was able to kick a guy in his helmet repeatedly until the helmet broke????
Moving on.
Jeff (Jeff Speakman) grew up, his benefactor was killed, he sought revenge, the end. For his final fight I guess Bolo Yeung wasn't available so they used another extra-large Asian in Professor Toru Tanaka who looked eerily similar to Harold Sakata, the well-known Asian henchman from "Goldfinger." The fight was nothing special nor was Jeff. If he ever got another movie after this one I never saw it and I don't think I'll bother.
If it wasn't enough that "The Perfect Weapon" was competing with better stars and better movies, it failed to distinguish itself in any way. It borrowed so many plot pieces from other movies that even the actors were being reused. They even made revenge the main motivation for the muscular martial artist.
The whole movie was rather unoriginal and brainless. The main character, Jeff, was kicked out of the house by his father as a teenager because he got into a fight and injured the other kid. The punishment certainly didn't fit the crime. Kicking a teenager out of the house was an extreme punishment for beating up a boy who'd just slapped the piss out of his brother. Even if I wanted to discourage such violence I definitely would encourage my sons to stick up for one another. But let's explore that fight shall we.
Jeff's brother, Adam, was mouthing off big time to a big offensive lineman in helmet and pads. The lineman had enough and backhanded Adam making his nosebleed. Jeff then, through a series of kicks, broke the lineman's face mask and knocked the guy out. PLEASE! Those helmets and face masks were made to protect against head on collisions with 300 pound linemen crashing into each other down after down and I'm supposed to believe that a 170 pound Kenpo Karate Kid was able to kick a guy in his helmet repeatedly until the helmet broke????
Moving on.
Jeff (Jeff Speakman) grew up, his benefactor was killed, he sought revenge, the end. For his final fight I guess Bolo Yeung wasn't available so they used another extra-large Asian in Professor Toru Tanaka who looked eerily similar to Harold Sakata, the well-known Asian henchman from "Goldfinger." The fight was nothing special nor was Jeff. If he ever got another movie after this one I never saw it and I don't think I'll bother.