Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 5, 1994 TAG: 9411180056
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Source material notwithstanding, it's an entertaining little martial arts comedy aimed at younger audiences. The pace moves along at a nice clip; the action scenes are well-staged and choreographed without graphic violence; the language is clean. In short, it's just the thing for kids who have outgrown Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers, but aren't ready for John Woo films.
The title refers to an ancient Chinese medallion, broken into two parts that give the wearers supernatural powers. Flash forward to New Angeles, 2007, after the big earthquake. It's a "Mad Max" city now, where the cops go home at curfew and leave the streets to the gangs.
Billionaire Koga Shuko (Robert Patrick, the memorable villain in "Terminator 2") has one of the gizmos and wants the other. It belongs to Satori (Julia Nickson), the guardian of Jimmy Lee (Mark Dacascos) and Billy Lee (Scott Wolf), whose father knew Shuko ... oh, never mind. The formula plot doesn't matter.
First-time director James Yukich comes to the film from music videos, but he left behind the medium's irritating gimmicks and flashy editing. Instead he keeps the focus on physical action. That's what martial-arts fans want to see and so, I presume, do video game-players.
Interestingly, the film was produced in part by Imperial Entertainment, an outfit that makes some of the better low-budget video originals. By the standards of most theatrical features, this one was probably made on shoestring. But the money was spent wisely on colorful sets and ingenious special effects.
The supporting cast is full of familiar faces from home video and daytime television. Michael Berryman shows up briefly as a bald bad guy, and Kristina Malandro Wagner, from "General Hospital" makes a memorable whip-wielding bad girl.
All in all, "Double Dragon" is a sleeper that delivers more than it promises.
Double Dragon
***
A Gramercy Pictures release playing at the Salem Valley 8. 93 min. Rated PG-13 for violence.
by CNB