This installment of Duncan MacLeod, immortal detective, started out looking like a bad ninja movie – probably because it actually was a bad ninja movie. And no guest immortals. The writers still hadn't internalized the fact that stories about immortals were what worked; they were still thinking martial arts, instead.
I cared nothing about the character of Jimmy, the arrogant, stuck-up Bruce Lee wannabe. The fact that he was supposed to be the star of a movie was hard to believe. In fact, since Lisa the producer was so warm for Duncan's form, I was surprised that she didn't try to recruit Duncan as an actor so that she could make a much better movie. I mean, really. Adrian Paul with his hair down and shirt off. I could look at him for hours.
The other highlight, for me, was the tongue-in-cheek exchange of Asian wisdom with "Grandfather" Lao. I also liked Duncan's James Bond-like banter and total lack of fear with Tong kingpin Leung. So at least this one had a lighter touch and poked fun at itself, because who could take a plot like this seriously?
Flashbacks:
— 1905 New York City. Duncan saw an immigrant friend killed by organized crime. This sort of related to the whole Tong subplot, I guess.
— There was also a repeat of the flashback from "Family Tree" where Duncan approached his father on the road and was told he wasn't his son. "Where do I come from?"
Bits and pieces:
— In the spirit of bad movie-making, Duncan gave us about fifteen movie cliche lines.
— Leung threatened Jimmy with a gun to keep him in a coffin that was about to go into the fire. This made zero sense. I think anyone would prefer getting shot.
— Leung was trying to act scary in a sneering sort of way. Dan said he probably went to the Jack Palance school of acting.
Quotes:
Duncan: "How did you know it was me?"
Grandpa Lao: "They say that every soul has its aura. Yours is very, very strong. Besides, I saw your car drive up."
Leong: "This man's mistake was to go against me. A closed casket will be necessary in this case. And possibly in yours... Mr..."
Duncan: "Bond. James Bond."
One star for the Jimmy plot, two stars for Grandfather Lao. One and a half stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux knows that there can be only one.
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