REVIEW: ‘Blood Heat’ (2002)

Quality, contemporary martial arts action finally comes to Japan, but with an America-born star and a Chinese action director. After a series of lesser action roles, Kane Kosugi (DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE), son of ’80s ninja film icon Sho Kosugi steps forward in BLOOD HEAT, an impressive showcase for his talents. Aided substantially by the expert fight choreography of Jackie Chan Stunt Team alum Sam Wong and Chan Man-ching, the film lifts Kane out of his father’s shadow and drops him into uncharted territory. It’s a diverse place where Hong Kong action, Japanese attitude and Hollywood sensibility cross paths with bone-jarring results.

Japan’s film industry has a long tradition in bringing samurai action to the screen in period dramas, but fist and kick action has never caught on the way it has in Hong Kong in the form of kung fu movies. This is curious in light of the fact that Japan can lay claim to several distinctive combat systems of its own including karate, judo, jujitsu, and aikido. There have been a couple of exceptions. Sonny Chiba displayed his karate skills in the violent STREET FIGHTER series and he also brought ninjitsu into the modern world with THE EXECUTIONER. More often, Japanese martial arts stars like Yasuaki Kurata, Hiroyuki Sanada and Sho Kosugi carried their arts to Hong Kong or the U.S. What has remained of karate-style action in Japan is generally reserved for live-action television series made for children like KAMEN RIDER.

With few indigenous traditions or active talent to draw on, BLOOD HEAT borrows heavily from Hong Kong and even Hollywood action filmmaking. The story is routine and follows rebellious U.S. Navy Seal Joe Jinno (Kane Kosugi) from an American military detention center to Tokyo’s seedy underbelly as a shadowy agent recruited by the Japanese government to bust drug traffickers. It’s 2009 and the drug of choice is a deadly and highly addictive performance enhancer known as Blood Heat.

In a lawless international district, drug lords push their poisons while running a no-rules combat circuit where drugged fighters battle to the death. During a violent assault on drug lord Kenji Rai’s (Masayo Kato) nightclub, Joe’s partner Aguri Katsuragi (Sho Aikawa) is captured and forced to fight in the circuit against house champion Lee Son-min (Ken Lo). He’s beaten to death and Joe seeks revenge. While Kenji attempts to force a scientist to manufacture more Blood Heat, Joe teams up with Aguri’s daughter and a motley group of orphaned children known as “Sewer Rats” as they declare war on the drug lord and his operation.

Despite an unremarkable plot, BLOOD HEAT is a lean and violent actioner that delivers the goods where it counts. There is two-fisted gunplay in the John Woo mold carried out by veteran actor Sho Aikawa. Super kicker Ken Lo, who has unfortunately been relegated to supporting dramatic roles in recent years goes center stage for an all-action performance as a champion cage fighter tripped out on Blood Heat. His kicks are less dynamic and he’s looking a little slower and less powerful than in his DRUNKEN MASTER 2 days, but he goes all out and still appears formidable enough.

Yet just as it should be, no one outshines Kane Kosugi. Kane’s tutelage by his father, his years of experience in and around the film industry since his childhood and his extensive martial arts training and workout regime serve him well. As he plays an American who knows little Japanese, Kane’s dialogue is kept to a minimum, but he speaks volumes with his fierce stare and physical moves that match or exceed that of almost anyone coming out of Hong Kong. He displays kicks reaching Donnie Yen’s level of skill and tricky sparring that ought to impress Jackie Chan.

The many battles themselves are minor works of art in the hands of Wong and Chan. They put their experience working with Jackie Chan on films like POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP to use while incorporating moves of their own making. The cage fights are nicely choreographed and make up about half of the action scenes, but the best combat is shown outside of the ring. Arguably the finest scene takes place in a hallway and opens with Kosugi rounding a corner and tossing knives into a pair of thugs in exaggerated slow motion. Kosugi engages the remaining thugs with a brilliantly-executed sequence of deflecting arm moves that ends with a leaping-split kick. The film’s final match between Kosugi and Masaya Kato is also noteworthy. This may be the first time in film history that two screen fighters duel with sledgehammers. The actors are wielding wooden hammers in reality, but they look real enough on film.

In interviews Kosugi suggests that he and the crew were attempting to create a distinctive fighting style for the actor. It’s certainly new as far as Japan is concerned, but the Hong Kong influence is too strong for the action to really stand out. If anything, Kosugi’s moves are less about distinctive form and more about impact or reaction. Ten Shimoyama’s hands off approach to the direction lets the action speak for itself, which is a nice change from the modern trend of editing for impact. That means longer takes that allow the viewer to see a healthy series of moves between takes. Limited wirework is used for emphasis and narrowly scrapes by without overdoing it.

The money shots are present, but they emphasize dynamic angles and enhance excellent sets that are richly textured and filled with character. The production is first-rate all around from lighting to art direction. Even Koji Endo’s moody score goes the extra mile with atmospheric touches that add layers of depth.

BLOOD HEAT is not a big-budget action film, but it uses its available resources to the max. It moves fast and unloads the kind of martial arts action that Hong Kong used to excel at when Corey Yuen was directing the likes of RIGHTING WRONGS in 1986. Actually, the acting is a little better and the tone of the film more suited for Western viewers. But more than anything, the film shows that Kane Kosugi has the chops to be a great action star who could appear at home in Japan, Hong Kong or Hollywood.