Rapid Fire

Bruce's son gets the Hollywood B-movie treatment in this all-out action fest that stands as one of his better pictures, featuring a roguish yet charming Brandon fighting like his father in scenes that frankly appear out of place in an American action picture of its time. Thankfully, Brandon neglects the deadly stares and patriotic words of his father and offers us a totally different image altogether: Brandon is hip-talking, cool, equipped with an attractive physique and razor-sharp kung fu. He plays Jake Lo, a bike-riding Chinese-American who gets himself caught up in a plight to bring to justice a mighty drug trafficker after he witnesses him murder a client. Soon Jake is enlisted to be used as bait in the police's attempts to root out the drug lord. Throw in a load of gunfights and fisticuffs and we have quite a meaty actioner on our hands, complete with Hong Kong-style choreography supervised by Brandon himself (the best example being a classy little battle with midget-stuntman Al Leong). Rapid Fire did prove to be Brandon's big break, and it's through his uniquely charismatic and exciting performance here that makes us acknowledge his early death with an even greater tinge of sadness.