Muscle Heat (2002)

Take care not to be misguided by the other comments on this movie! The action in this movie does not amount to "good" and it hardly even qualifies as mediocre. With a bad plot and too much bad storytelling instead of action, there is very little to entertain an experienced and/or demanding observer.Kane Kosugi is good in his movie-display of martial arts, but worthwhile action is presented only in 2 and a half minutes of the entire movie.The other fights have choreography, the quality of a bad Van Damme movie. ("I will block your kicks with my face until your feet start bleeding!") The showdown disappoints the most. It made me wonder if the action choreographer had left the crew, by that time. Cut-scenes, in no particular order, and devoid of any tension, are supposed to excite the audience. You may be familiar with that if you have seen the showdown of "Naked Weapon".

Even the final credits of the movie are good,just because of that great song ("Ready or not?We're gonna be on top!").From the start to the last scene is cool (slow in some parts,but yet,good). Now,for the actors,I found Kane Kosagi very weird.To tell the truth,I don't if It's his acting or just the character,but It can be the first one. That actress who played Akane Katsuragi,Jesus Christ,WHAT A F****** UGLY GIRL,GUYS!Her acting is decent,but even the make-up failed in make her face a bit cute,at least!I really don't understand Asian standards of beauty.Looks like every Asian crap can show its face on media!!! That girl who was always following the baddies around is very beautiful,but got one or two lines. And Masaya Kato...!Oh,my god,this man drives me crazy!!!He is so handsome and talented!People say "OH,Kane Kosugi is back,he is the son of that guy who..." but I say "So good too see Masaya again!".He is thinner than usual in this one,but I believe that this was the only way to keep Kane Kosugi from being overshadowed by him!No matter what you say,that is what I think! Sho Aikawa is ridiculous.The infamous exaggerated Japanese acting;However the guy who played the leader of the "rats" was very cool.

I have to say that despite having one of the worst titles ever, I really enjoyed this action film. Watching Kane Kosugi with his dad in the 80's, it is clear that he not only improved but action wise, he is better than what I used to see from him in the 80's. The plot is a typical B-movie by standards, but man was the action awesome. Seeing Kane spin in the air to do a split kick knocking two guys down is just astonishing...oh and look for Jackie Chan for literally 1 second in the opening before Shinya Hashimoto fights Ken Lo. Awesome film...Kane Kosugi is back!!!

MUSCLE HEAT was dead on arrival. The film offers up one of those cheap tournament fighting storylines popular in the late '80s and '90s, but really does nothing for the moviegoing public nowadays. The film's biggest draw is its star, Kane Shosugi, who is quite a good martial artist. His action scenes outside the ring are impressive, but once he enters the tournament, all the fighting becomes tedious and repetitive. More action sequences in the real world would have been a better way to go.As it stands, MUSCLE HEAT isn't a complete failure. I'd like to see more from Shosugi, preferably in a better environment, with a better story. Action films are fine, but there's something to be said for falling back on tiresome genres like the whole tournament thing.5 out of 10(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this movie and reviews of other foreign films)