Razor Sharpe

I only watched this film from beginning to end because I promised a friend I would. It lacks even unintentional entertainment value that many bad films have. It may be the worst film I have ever seen. I'm surprised a distributor put their name on it.

"Razor Sharp" is a shot on video feature co-written, produced and directed by Troy Nikolo Ashford designed to showcase the martial arts prowess of its star, Troy Nikolo Ashford. It plays more like a demo tape to be shown at auditions than a real feature as it has an obvious home movie quality not much more advanced than "The Blair Witch Project." On the plus side Ashford shows he can whup ass and gets into a scrape every five minutes. The action scenes are well choreographed and shot considering the shoestring budget Ashford had to work with.

Plot? Ashford plays Justin "Razor" Sharp, struggling actor aspiring to be the next VanDamme or Lundgren. After being wrongfully fired from a supporting role in a martial arts flick by its tempremental star, Sharp finds himself blacklisted and set up as the patsy for an armed robbery suppossedly staged as part of another film shoot. (This is about as believable as the cameras which are nowhere in sight). On the run, Sharp looks for those who framed him. You already know where this leads.

As an actor Ashford has an ernest eager to please air to him which any struggling actor can identify with. Unfortunately he has no discernable screen presense and his love scenes are the most awkward I have seen in years as he clearly wants to be somewhere else.

Hopefully Ashford will find a better vehicle to showcase himself than this. This film is recommended only for the indiscriminating martial arts fan. You've seen worse, but you've seen much better too. I give it a 3 out of 10.

Troy Nikolo Ashford is a musclebound martial arts type, obviously trying to be the next Billy Blanks. All he appears to have going for him is a terrifc physique, which he doesn't flaunt enough to make this trite actioner worth indulging in. I'd have found any excuse in a storm to take off my shirt. Very low rent.

Okay, so this film suffers at times from it's low budget and sometimes uneven casting. But for sheer "showcasing" power, I haven't seen a film introduce a new action hero this well since "Pumping Iron" took Arnold Schwartzenegger from Austria to international celebrity. Troy Nikolo Ashford is a powerful screen presence: more muscular, more intense and certainly better looking than Vin Diesel and any of the other contemporary film tough-guys. Watch for this guy to get snagged by a major studio for some sort of "Conan The Barbarian" or "Scorpion King" role!