The BEST OF THE BEST series continues with this predictable but high-octane fourth entry. Making an impressive directorial debut, leading man Phillip Rhee keeps a firm grip on the story line while satisfying viewers' appetites for death-defying stunts.
Seizing control of LA's traffic control center, murderous Russian mobsters Yuri Stava (Thure Riefenstein) and Karlina (Jessica Collins) instigate an automotive logjam that enables their coconspirators to hijack a truck containing a government currency disc and Treasury Department printing paper.
But the counterfeiting gang, headed by Yuri's brother Lukass (Tobin Bell), is foiled by a snitch named Mickey (Jill Ritchie), who appropriates the computer disc for the LA district attorney.
While LAPD partners Detective Gresko (Ernie Hudson) and Detective Jarvis (Chris Lemmon) investigate the heist, the Stava gang pursues Mickey to her dad's convenience store, where she slips the disc into the pocket of martial arts instructor Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee). Before she is killed by the
gang, Mickey informs Tommy that the gang is being helped by a crooked cop.
When he discovers the disc, Tommy hands it over to Jarvis, who turns out to be the bad cop. Tommy is forced to kill him in self-defense. Keeping a step ahead of vengeful Detective Gresko, Tommy leaves his daughter Stephanie (Jessica Huang) at a church for safekeeping. Tommy is captured by Karlina,
posing as Mickey's DA connection. Although Tommy escapes, Yuri forces him to trade the disc for Stephanie at the church. Tommy tracks Lukass and Yuri to the airport. Having learned about his ex-partner's crooked dealings, Detective Gresko drives to Tommy's rescue, only to be wounded by the Stava
Brothers. As the Stavas attempt to fly away, Tommy tosses a bomb into the cargo hold of their plane, which explodes in midair.
BEST OF THE BEST: WITHOUT WARNING pumps new vitality into a series that had been showing signs of atrophy. The supple Phillip Rhee may lack onscreen charisma, but he proves dynamic behind the camera. The self-defense segments are cleverly staged, and the intricate action sequences are adroitly
mapped out and executed. Particularly impressive is a chase through a tunnel in which Rhee rides his motorbike under a careening truck. If the script development sometimes seems musty, director Rhee blows the cobwebs off its formula plotting. When he decides to retire from kickboxing, Rhee is
assured of a career in the more strenuous arena of film directing. (Graphic violence, extreme profanity, nudity.)
