Showdown (1993)

From the director of BEST OF THE BEST (1989) comes this updated rehash of the classic 1984 film THE KARATE KID, featuring a current fitness guru and a former TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE as the teacher and student.

Tae-Bo founder Billy Blanks stars as Billy Grant, a police officer who decides to quit the force after accidentally killing a partygoer who attacks him. Ashamed for what he has done, he walks away from the job once and for all and becomes a janitor at a local high school.

Kenn Scott plays Ken Marx, the new kid in school. Ken lives with his mother, who has moved from town-to-town to find work. It is Ken’s senior year and he wants to start it out right. Of course, it doesn’t happen as he becomes the victim of a prank by some juveniles. Things only get worse for Ken when he meets Julie (Christine Taylor), a girl in his class.

Ken learns that Julie is the girlfriend of Tom (Ken McLeod), the high scholl bully who takes to running things his way. When Tom learns that Ken is making eyes as Julie, he intends to give Ken a message about communicating with Julie. After a brief scuffle, Ken meets Billy and the two somehow become friends. When Tom decides to bully Ken again, this time in the gym, Billy helps Ken out by taking down Tom and his buddy Rob (Michael Cavalieri). However, Billy leaves before anyone comes in to see the bullies down and out. Ken becomes a hero to the school, but Tom isn’t having it.

Tom has problems of his own. Tom is the top student of the evil Lee (Patrick Kilpatrick), a martial arts instructor who believes that “success is control” and that it takes violence to prove who is the best. He is definitely the 90’s update to Martin Kove’s Sensei Kreese in the KARATE KID films but somehow, Lee has a little more edge as Lee is not only a teacher, but the organizer of an illegal martial arts arena, in which he holds not in an underground arena, but from his very own dojo. When Lee learns of Tom’s beating, he makes an example out of Tom by repeatedly slapping him and warning him if he ever fails again, he will be lucky if he lives.

Tom decides to make an example for Ken once and for all when he learns Ken is somehow getting the credit for his undoing. Tom beats Ken viciously in front of the entire student body and as a result, gets his reputation back as the most feared student on campus. Growing tired of being nothing but a training dummy, Ken turns to Billy, who offers to train him to defend himself. Ken accepts and becomes Billy’s student in the martial arts. During his training, Ken references THE KARATE KID when part of his training includes cleaning the toilets. He asks Billy, “Will I learn ‘wax on, wax off’” with Billy replying, “This is cleaning the toilet”.

As Ken continues his training, Ken is nearly coerced into Lee’s fighting arena by Lee’s assistant Kate (Linda Dona). When Billy learns of Ken’s possible decisions, he gets upset and this enables him to do what he had wanted to do for the past few years: go back to being a policeman. With his former partner backing him up, Billy goes to get photos and evidence of the arena. When Lee learns who was sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, he becomes mad as it is revealed that Lee is the brother of the man Billy accidentally killed years ago.

Meanwhile, Julie had grown tired of Tom and dumps him in order to be with Ken. When Tom learns that Julie has now become Ken’s girlfriend, he gets livid only for Ken to stand up to him as he is sick of Tom’s bullying as well. Tom issues a challenge at the dojo in five days. Ken accepts the challenge. However, Lee has sent hitmen to kill Billy and when Billy is injured fighting them off, he disappears. Will Billy be able to come back in time for Ken’s fight or will Ken have to do what it takes himself to win and prove to himself that anything is possible?

This film can be described, in retrospect, as a remake/rehash of THE KARATE KID as the storyline is quite similar. New kid comes to school, falls for girl, gets bullied by girl’s martial artist boyfriend, trains in martial arts from eccentric man, and proves himself in the end. This pretty much is the basic storyline for this film and the more updated NEVER BACK DOWN (2008). Nevertheless, the film’s strengths come in well-shot and choreographed fight scenes as well as instead of having to train anyone for the film, in the way Ralph Macchio and Billy Zabka trained in karate for THE KARATE KID, the teacher, student, and bully are all played by real martial artists.

Of course, this film’s major plot twist involves an illegal fighting arena and the fact that this film’s Mr. Miyagi, a.k.a. Billy Blanks’ character of Billy Grant, is a former policeman. Blanks, who began to wow film audiences after appearing in the original BLOODFIST (1989) and THE KING OF THE KICKBOXERS (1990), takes the lead role of the ex-cop turned janitor, who also becomes, more or less, a father figure to new student Ken, well played by Kenn Scott. Scott, a martial arts expert whose previous work including being the fighting double of Raphael in TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II: THE SECRET OF THE OOZE (1991), makes his non-stunt debut and plays off the non-fighting stuff really well and yet, when it comes to his big fight scene, impresses overall with some pretty nice kicking and handwork. Ken McLeod, who made his film debut in the underrated B-movie COLLEGE KICKBOXERS (1990), plays high school bully Tom really well. McLeod definitely has the martial arts skills to play the role and pulls off the acting hands down as someone who in a way acts like a big shot, but when it comes to impressing his teacher, is seen as if he has to prove himself.

The film’s only little flaw, and we mean very little, comes in the form of evil martial arts master Lee. As much as actor Patrick Kilpatrick is perhaps one of the best villain actors in Hollywood, he doesn’t exactly have the martial arts skills down to play such an evil character. That is, unless, Lee’s style just happens to be more of a street-fighting style that relies on more low kicks to the legs and brutal strangulation. However, if this was Lee’s style, wouldn’t Tom use similar techniques and not show more of a kickboxing-type style? Nevertheless, Kilpatrick’s performance makes one suspends the thought that he is not exactly a martial arts actor type, sort of.

Regardless, the action scenes complement the more dramatic relationship between Ken and his teacher and Ken and Tom’s girlfriend Julie. Despite some very little comic relief in the form of Ken’s buddy Mike, played by John Asher, it doesn’t quite play out well overall. However, James Lew’s fight choreography is well done as he gets to make good use of Blanks, Scott, and McLeod. Lew even has a cameo himself as an assassin hired by Lee to kill Billy, with his partner played by martial arts actor and MMA fighter Nick Hill. Nevertheless, the climatic fights, pitting Ken and Tom and then, Billy against Lee are the highlights of the film and unlike A-brand Hollywood films, the fights are better edited, complete with slow motion and at times, multiple angles.

In the end, SHOWDOWN is definitely a pretty decent B-movie with bankable leads, a KARATE KID-esque storyline with a twist, and some well shot fight scenes. Sadly, the film isn’t currently available on DVD in the U.S., but hopefully it will arrive as this is an underrated film.

Related Topics: Billy Blanks, high school, Karate Kid, Kenn Scott, martial arts, policeman, Showdown (1993), tournament