i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The first starring vehicle for martial artist Jeff Speakman is overall a very routine affair, utilizing a tried-and-true theme of vengeance for its story. The good thing is that the action is effective, with Speakman delivering the goods in a great many fight scenes. He may be a little bland in terms of personality and acting talent, but as we can see here he is definitely very good at what is known as Kenpo. (The movie is dedicated to the legendary Ed Parker and the "spirit of Kenpo".) Director Mark DiSalle ("Kickboxer") does a decent job, telling a tight little story that clocks in at a respectable 85 minute run time. A supporting cast full of familiar faces also helps matters a lot.Speakman plays a guy named Jeff, a loner estranged from his family who decides to give his old mentor and friend Kim (Mako) a call. Unfortunately, Kim is currently being harassed by meanies representing the Korean mob. When Kim is murdered, Jeff's ripe for revenge, although he will have to deal with the presence of his younger brother Adam (John Dye), who's now a police detective.You do know you're in for some fun with a group of actors that includes James Hong, Beau Starr, Professor Toru Tanaka, Clyde Kusatsu, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. Hong is great as always and the massive Professor, one of the most recognizable faces in the whole action genre, is typically amusing as a muscle man. Dante Basco is engaging as live wire kid Jimmy Ho, but if you're watching this because you learned that future 'Law & Order' actress Mariska Hargitay is in it, be warned that while she does *look* great, she basically has nothing to do. Mako is endearing for the duration of his role.The big finish is naturally the best part, with Jeff going one on one against the Professor.Good entertainment overall.Seven out of 10.

Jeff Speakman was on the road to martial arts super-stardom since being a master of the Kenpo style of fighting; a fighting style that was new to Western audiences. However, The Perfect Weapon, is far from perfect. For starters, the script is full of sputtered dialog, leaving the characters, especially Speakman, as vapid shells with nothing to work with. The acting is equally OTT atrocious with inane, incompetent and uninspired, by-the-numbers direction. The material is nothing special to begin with as with the case of most martial arts movies (though some of them are technically polished and brilliant) of that era. But TPW is not all that bad though. Some of the fight scenes are impressive and the fact that Speakman gets beaten up and vulnerable(this could've lent Seagal more credibility) as well as the final fight between Speakman and the big guy was one of the only good things out of this film. Too bad the end product was more or less than the sum of its parts and Speakman, sadly, faded away into obscurity from the spotlight; possibly forever. A shame. He could've been the next best thing.

Jeff Speakman(The master of kempo) made his debut in The Perfect Weapon, in this he plays Jeff Sanders a construction worker/drifter who brings vengeance to the Korean mobsters responsible for his mentor(Mako)'s death, his cop brother Adam(John Dye) keeps trying to tell Jeff that there are proper procedures but Jeff proceeds to hunt and pulverize anybody who gets in his way. There was just something about martial arts movies that I loved, something to this day I can't put my finger on. The Perfect Weapon was made to rival Steven Seagal, as Warner Bros had Seagal under contract, so Paramount introduced us to Jeff Speakman. Speakman should have had a bigger career at least on the basis of this, The Perfect Weapon features everything you would expect from a martial arts action flick but also has a stronger narrative and a sharper pace. That being said there are a couple of slow moments but Speakman is always there to kick life into the movie and on this level The Perfect Weapon works as a great guilty pleasure. Also Professor Toru Tanaka makes for a great villain.* *1/2 out of 4-(Pretty good)

First, if anyone knows _when_ this is going to be released on DVD legitimately, please post on here or email me.Second. This movie is great! The first time in a long time that anyone brings some good, well choreographed fight scenes to the movies.We need more Kenpo experts to bring some more original movies to Hollywood. As any viewer of this movie can see, there are no duplicate scenes, like any of the VanDead movies, where they show the same damn kick from 12 different angles... I mean c'mon enough with the helicopter kick LOL.I think this movie really illustrates the deep content of the Kenpo system and removes it from the watered down "martial arts" of "Take My Do" that gives everybody and their sister a worthless black belt.This movie develops the plot well, has the necessary elements of a good story; captivates both males and females...Great movie! Last, "Jeff where are you and/or your students? We need some more good Kenpo representatives out there!"