Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

The Perfect Weapon Blu-ray Movie Review

The Kenpo Kid.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 23, 2012

Martial arts films are seemingly a dime a dozen nowadays, and have been a staple of cineplexes at least since the days of The Shaw Brothers and the legendary Bruce Lee. The funny thing is that despite the glut of these chop-socky spectaculars, few casual observers are ever aware of the vast differences in fighting techniques. Sure, films like the Ip Man series may try to elucidate the history of a particular method, but when the fists and feet are coming fast and furiously, it’s probably not a major concern to most in the audience whether they’re watching karate, judo, or some other exotic form of hand combat. Kenpo is yet another variation on the martial arts theme, and Jeff Speakman brought it to the masses in 1991’s cult favorite The Perfect Weapon. Are there gigantic differences between Kenpo and any other martial art that has graced film for the past several decades? There may well be, but to the casual observer (and I am far from an expert in anything related to martial arts), chances are the nuances are probably not going to be that noticeable. What is noticeable is Speakman’s effortless kick-ass style, one that invests The Perfect Weapon with a certain degree of fun and frenzied action. Speakman never really seemed to capture the brass ring of martial arts superstardom and The Perfect Weapon is still probably Speakman’s finest filmic hour, for better or worse. The film’s action is undeniably its strongest element, one which Speakman carries off with a fair degree of grace and expertise, but dramatically this film is about as turgid and predictable as they come, something which no amount of great fighting can overcome.

Speakman portrays construction worker Jeff Sanders, whose tumultuous backstory is summed up in a quick montage as he drives a freeway on the way to meeting a friend of his named Kim (Mako), whom Jeff has heard being threatened over the phone. A quick summary of events shows us that Jeff’s mother died in his youth, leaving him a bitter and out of control teen. Jeff’s police captain father (Beau Starr) can’t take it anymore and is about to send Jeff away to a military academy. Family friend Kim intervenes and suggests that Jeff instead be enrolled in the local Kenpo school, a place where Jeff’s rage can be tamed and channeled into something productive. We segue through the intervening years to see Jeff and his younger brother Adam practicing Kenpo moves on their bunk beds in their childhood home, and then, later, we see Jeff as a high school pole vault jumper defending Adam against a bullying football player who doesn’t want to share the field with any “inferior” athlete. Of course, Jeff’s quick Kenpo moves proves just who the inferior one is, though unfortunately that sends the football player to the hospital seriously injured and Jeff’s father once again has had enough, telling his eldest son to clear out of the family home.

All of the above takes place in just a few minutes in a series of flashbacks as Jeff, now an adult, drives quickly to figure out what’s going on with Kim, ultimately breaking up a team of Korean Mafia thugs who are terrorizing the elder antiques store owner. Jeff literally bursts through the wall, Superman style, and quickly dispatches the gang, at least for the moment. That sets up the central conflict of the film, for soon Kim is a murder victim and Jeff is out to wreak vengeance on the bad guys who killed his mentor and substitute father figure. Jeff is sent on a bit of a wild goose chase before he's finally able to track down the mastermind behind the Mafia thugs, leading to the big set piece showdown of the film.

The rest of the film plays out pretty much as expected, with the supposed twist of Jeff’s younger brother Adam, now an adult (played by Touched By An Angel’s John Dye), the policeman assigned to investigate the murder, setting up a dialectic between Jeff, who has been estranged from his family all these years, and Adam, who still idolizes his sibling, albeit from afar. There’s also a completely undeveloped subplot involving a girl named Jennifer whom Jeff meets as a kid in the Kenpo school but who shows up again as an adult (played by a young and overly coiffed Mariska Hargitay). There’s nothing remotely surprising about anything that happens in The Perfect Weapon once the pieces are in play, but for an undemanding viewing experience, it hits the requisite buttons and provides at least a couple of really exciting fight sequences.

It’s odd that Speakman never became a bigger movie star. He’s athletic and graceful, and while he has the same taciturn, stone faced quality that seems to be a prerequisite for American action stars, his performance style is appealing and less problematic than several others who have gone on to greater glory (like at least a couple of WWE stars). While the action scenes are obviously the major drawing card of The Perfect Weapon, Speakman’s ease with the more “dramatic” aspects of the film are actually relatively well done, at least within the lowered expectations confines of a film like this.

Director Mark DiSalle, like Speakman, never seems to have really had much of a career, despite having produced and/or directed a couple of Jean Claude Van Damme films, something which obviously prepared him for The Perfect Weapon. But he acquits himself quite nicely here, especially with regard to both several well staged set pieces of hand to hand combat as well as a very well done car chase that includes one of the few instances (perhaps the only instance) of a stretch limousine doing the iconic “drive over the top of another car, flip and roll” routine. It’s completely ludicrous, of course, but it adds a little dash to what is dramatically a pretty pedestrian affair.

The Perfect Weapon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Perfect Weapon is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This early nineties Paramount catalog release is one of the better looking recent offerings from Olive, which has a licensing deal to release Paramount titles which the studio itself is evidently not interested in putting out into the marketplace themselves. The elements here are in very good shape, generally speaking, though some very slight (as in very slight) blemishes pop into the frame very occasionally. The image here is suitably crisp and well defined, with nicely saturated color, excellent contrast, and decent shadow detail and black levels. As with all Olive releases thus far, Paramount doesn't seem to have digitally tweaked this image at all, and so grain appears natural, and no over indulgent sharpening is on display either.

The Perfect Weapon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Perfect Weapon features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix that is surprisingly fulsome, especially with regard to a rather expressive and bombastic low end. Despite the absence of a 5.1 surround mix and the subwoofer support that would have offered, this 2.0 mix really has a nice punch to it (no pun intended), including the use of several pieces of now extremely recognizable source music, including the evergreen "The Power" by Snap! Though rather narrow, the soundfield here is populated by a wealth of great sound effects in the fight sequences, dialogue is crisp and clear, and the entire mix is very well prioritized. The dialogue itself may be occasionally (or even more than occasionally) laughable, but fidelity here is excellent and though a surround repurposing might have given this film some added oomph, what's here works remarkably well.

The Perfect Weapon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Perfect Weapon is one of those films that has no arty ambitions and succeeds admirably in achieving its lowbrow goal. There's nothing remotely surprising about anything that goes on in this film, but it's pleasant enough, albeit undemanding every step of the way. Speakman is really a very appealing action star, and it's somewhat surprising that he didn't become a major superstar. The supporting cast here is also fine (including the hugely wasted Mako, an Oscar nominee for Robert Wise's The Sand Pebbles), and the film ambles along at a decent pace with several really well staged fight sequences. Once again Paramount has provided a nicely crisp looking high definition master to Olive, which continues to release a really interesting slate of Paramount catalog titles (there's another slew due here any day, including another pile of Jerry Lewis films). Though as is typical with Olive releases there are no supplemental features, video and audio quality are both excellent, and for fans of this film or this genre, The Perfect Weapon comes Recommended.