Miami Vice lied to
you. It wasn’t Cuban or Colombian
cartels that controlled the South Florida drug trade in the 1980’s. It was the ninjas. However, they met their match in Tae Kwon Do
grandmaster and inspirational speaker Y.K. Kim.
He and his students lay down some hard rocking justice in his long lost,
feather-haired, labor of love, Miami
Connection (trailer
here), which
Alamo Drafthouse saved from obscurity to conquer the world through a series of
midnight screenings, beginning this Friday in New York.
The
Miami Ninjas pick a fight with the wrong band when they try to roust Dragon
Sound from their new gig at “Central Florida’s hottest new night club” in Connection, co-directed by Kim and experienced
exploitation auteur Woo-sang “Richard” Park.
They are a tight band, who live, train, and rock together with Mark,
their Tae Kwon Do master. The ninjas and
drug dealers might have formed an alliance, but they are no match for the
one-two punch of Tae Kwon Do and cheesy 80’s synthesizer rock.
Further
complicating matters, Mark’s number one protégé John has been dating Jane, the
kid sister of Jeff the gang leader, against his wishes. Granted, he overreacts, but it is hard to
blame him for being underwhelmed by the gawky lover-boy. Indeed, things get personal quickly. The plot might be a touch hackneyed (you know
when a Dragon Sound member puts on a fancy new suit for a special occasion, he
is in for a world of hurt) and the dialogue is what it is (and that’s not much),
but the fighting is pretty awesome, courtesy of Grandmaster Kim, who clearly
has no aversion to a spot of blood here and there. Former champion kickboxer Maurice Smith
certainly knew how to conduct himself in a fight scene as well, but he has some
of the most laughable drama as Jim, the keyboard player with the unhealthy
mailbox obsession.
