Sometimes these films might be passed by because they're ho-hum or basically been done to death. "American Dragons" offers up nothing new (a mismatch pairing of cops, as East meets West -- one American and other Korean go after a deadly assassin who's setting up a war against the Italian Mafia and the Yakuza), but where it counts this ably slick B-grade action thriller fare is taut, rapid and frenetically violent with a solidly steadfast lead performance by Michael Biehn. I don't really care how unoriginal or familiar these story lines are, as long as it moves along and provides you a good quota of arresting action and plenty of beat-ups. Which this one does. Explosively too. Sometimes the buddy formula can be an irritation, but Michael Biehn and Joong-Hoon Park work off each other nicely --- balancing out the humour, personal depth and vigorous activity accordingly. These characters might not be black and white, but their motivations and believes are clichéd. Sometimes this can be unintentionally humorous. Character actor Don Stark in the villain role is superb as mafia man Rocca and Byron Mann is rather lethal as the shady assassin. Also there's minor support by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagaw. This story of redemption has that posing comic feel, as two sub-plots open up to miraculously tie back together. Competent direction crafts out numerous stylish sequences using some nice shadow and lighting work with moments of flashy slow-motion shots. Cheesy, but enjoyable action hokum.
