Don
“The Dragon” Wilson stars as a widowed martial arts instructor who’s growing
apart from his teenage son Brad (Dan Mayid).
Don’s dad (Aki Aleong) works in a computer lab perfecting virtual bad
guys for cop Lorenzo Lamas to practice shooting during computerized simulations. He turns the simulator into a video game
which he gives to Brad as a birthday present. When his virtual reality helmet short circuits,
Brad’s mind gets trapped inside the game. Don then straps in and sets out to find his
son before he becomes permanently trapped in the game.
The
set-up had a lot of potential. It could’ve
been Mortal Kombat Meets Tron. However,
X-Treme Fighter is just kinda cheap and cheesy.
The low-tech graphics in the video game are good for a chuckle (they
look like something out of a kid’s movie from the ‘90s), but some parts look
like they were filmed during a Kung Fu convention that Don and Cynthia just so
happened to attend. It also doesn’t help
that the video game fighters are mostly generic and unmemorable. The fights are also way too brief and suffer
from ho-hum choreography.
Even
though director Art (Half Past Dead 2) Camacho never really takes advantage of
the premise, X-Treme Fighter remains watchable due to the capable cast. I mean, how can I not watch a movie starring Don
“The Dragon” Wilson, Lorenzo Lamas (sporting one of his most impressive coifs
in his entire career), and Cynthia Rothrock (who pulls double duty as Wilson’s
love interest and the “White Dragon” video game fighter)? Don, Cynthia, and Lorenzo always remain
likeable even in the cheesiest of surroundings. I just wish Rothrock and Lamas had more to do (Lamas
literally bumps into Wilson at one point, which is about the extent of their
interaction) and that the fights were longer. (The final showdown ends abruptly.)
Still,
it’s hard to hate any action movie in which the actors are listed in the
credits alongside their Kung Fu credentials.
Seeing them listed with titles like “2nd Degree Black Belt”
and “Master of Kata” underneath their names put a smile on my face. I love shit like that.
AKA: Sci-Fighter.
AKA: Dragon Battle: Evolution.
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