Pointing In The Right Direction: A Look At The Directorial Work Of Wang Lung-Wei - Part 3

Finally, after many delays it is time for the third and final part of my article in which I'll be looking at the directorial work of Wang Lung-Wei. Last time we ended with a discussion about Wang's most successful film in terms of box office, Bloody Brotherhood. Drawing elements from classic Triad drama as well as American gangster pictures it was a very wild and very violent tale which saw Andy Lau spin out of control into an explosive and bloody finale. With this final part of the series I'll be taking a look at a film which sees Wang do something different to what he had attempted before.

If you've been following this article then you should know that, apart from Innocent Interloper, female characters in Wang's films haven't exactly had any impact and have been relegated mostly to wall flower roles or end up as innocent victims of circumstance due to the actions of one his film's characters. The Innocent Interloper did buck the trend a little by having Elaine Lui kick a serious amount of ass through the film's run time. So when Wang released his next film in 1990 he decided to give his audience a serious dose of girl power by showing that he could direct a film that could have female characters that were just as strong if not in some ways stronger then their male counterparts. That film is of course Widow Warriors.

Sek Kin returns to work with Wang once more as the aging patriarch of a Triad family. While attending an opera performance he is assassinated along with his sons in a vicious gangland takeover. It's left to his surviving daughters and in-laws to exact revenge on those responsible. Having had time to reflect upon the film I have to say this is one of Wang's stronger films in his canon of directed films. The story is actually really well written and each character is given their own opportunity to shine in their own way. The aforementioned assassination scene is very well directed which sees Wang building the tension through tight editing and some wonderful background music, which I'm sure was probably lifted from a different film but it's put to incredibly good use here. When the inevitable happens and Sek's character is killed the tension explodes in a furious gun battle between his two sons played by Chan Wai-Man and Ken Lo and a group of rival gangsters. Much look the opening gun battle of City Warriors it's very well done and further show cases Wang's skills at being able to set up gunplay as well as martial arts fight sequences. 

During the middle part of the film we see the daughter's of Sek's character coming to terms with what has happened. It's during this time that we get some great performances from the central cast. One actress in particular I really liked was Tien Niu as Long. Her character is not related to the family directly by blood but married into the family. Her husband died in a violent gang confrontation before the events of the film but when we meet her we see that she's all too familiar with the inner workings of the Triad way of life so when her in-laws are brutally murdered she's determined to get revenge. The interesting thing about her is how incredibly methodical she is in her approach. While the other daughters are eager to go out and kill the people responsible, Long decides to take a much slower route and makes careful plans that will eventually see her destroy her rivals.

It's an incredibly well thought out and wonderfully played piece of acting, which is a rarity fpr a female character in a Hong Kong film of this era which makes Niu's performance one of the big highlights of the film. She also acts against a good supporting cast. Winnie Lau plays her wayward daughter but doesn't do much except act like a big brat most of the time but there are one or two good moments shared with her and Niu. Elizabeth Lee plays the role of Ching-Ching. Having just returned from the US with her new husband, she finds that her new life is turned completely upside down after the death of her father and brothers. She tries to stay away from what is going on and just wants things to return to some form of normality but as the film progresses circumstances presents themselves which end up forcing her to embrace her destiny as the daughter of a Chinese ganglord.

Kara Hui makes an appearance and lends her considerable talents as a martial artist along with Michiko Nishiwaki playing the widow of Ken Lo. You have to wonder what type of children they could have had together. Incredibly tough ones thats for damns sure. There's a pretty long and brutal action set piece which sees Michiko and one of the sisters go after the head honcho responsible for the assassinations played by Stephen Chan. He doesn't do anything except let his girlfriend and his big burly female bodyguard played by Liu Fan do all the fighting. It's a nasty, ugly fight which sees everyone try and really hurt each other. However this just leads us p to a truly stunning action scene featuring Kara Hui.

What starts out as a quick foot chase turns into a full two on one brawl in a parking garage. Kara gets to display hers skills,which was something she rarely got to do during this point in her career. What amazes me though is that she takes some really hefty bumps. She also gets to exchange some really good techniques and easily best her opponents who act like the good sports that they are as they take it literally on the chin. It was while I was watched this that I thought Kara is definitely one of the more underrated female action stars to come out of Hong Kong and I was thrilled to see her bust some moves against Donnie in the recent film Wu Xia. I certainly hope she gets to have more wonderful screen fights like that in the future.

The rest of the film devotes it's time to the other sister's family turmoil and it was at this point things began to fizzle out. The few dialogue scenes were flat and I get the feeling Wang Lung-Wei was more comfortable directing scenes where people were dying in various outrageously violent ways. Luckily as we edge to the end of the film we get a fine action set piece which takes place in a junk yard which sees the remaining sisters and what is left of her father's Triad family take on the big bad boss. Much like the previous action scenes before it, the choreography is emotionally charged, hard hitting and uncomfortable but this is essentially Wang in his element as director and you get the feeling he thoroughly enjoyed putting his cast members through hell as they filmed this sequence.

Wang's favourite gun makes another appearance. This time in the hands of Tien Niu as she teams up with Elizabeth Lee to take down Stephen Chan. Our heroic sisters take some serious knocks and we end up with very solid ending to what has to be one of the more interesting films Wang Lung-Wei has directed. I would really recommend it to those who like strong female characters in their action films shouldn't hesitate about seeing this as you'll be pleasantly surprised by what Widow Warriors has to offer.

1991 would be the year Wang Lung-Wei's most sought after film would be released. Produced by none other Jackie Chan and featuring stunt and fight choreography by his very own stunt team. 1991 was the year The Angry Ranger was released. Ben Lam stars as Peter, fresh from prison after serving time for killing some Triad. He attempts to piece his life back together until one day he meets Jane (Leung Yuen-Jing) the two are immediately attracted to each other but things soon turn violent when Jane's boyfriend Han (Sun Chien) finds out and intends to put Peter in the ground. To make matters worse, a young Triad with the odd name of AIDS Lun (Jackie Lui) is determined to fight Peter and prove who is the better Traid.

As I mentioned earlier The Angry Ranger was an incredibly sought after film among fans. This was because, as stated earlier, the film features stunt and fight direction from Jackie Chan's very own Sing Ga Ban. A dedicted group of stuntmen who work very closely with Jackie on all of his films. Many of the alumni include Ken Lo, Andy Cheng, Brad Allan and Mars. Luckily the film's rarity diminished when it was released as part of Fortune Star's Legendary Collection and fans have been given the opportunity to finally see what all the fuss is about. Having watched the film I've come to the conclusion it isn't the all out action fest some fans have made it out to be it is however a flawed but still entertaining in it's own right action crime drama worthy of your attention.

Ben Lam while very good at performing martial arts and stunts, isn't the most compelling of leading actors. He has the broad shoulders and square jaw that make for a good looking action hero but he doesn't quite pull it off. His chemistry with most of the cast is a little stilted to say the least. His many scenes with co-star Leung Yuen-Jing are a bit awkward. They weren't out right terrible to watch. In fact there are one or two nice moments shared between them but it isn't going to be remembered as one of the great romances of Hong Kong film and for good reason. The real highlights come in the form of two characters; AIDS Lun and Big Cricle Han played by Jackie Lui and Sun Chien respectively. If you've seen as many Hong Kong Triad films as I have you begin to recognize all the trappings which create the genre. One is the loud, brash yet at the same time methodical and determined Triad Big Brother. We're given that in the form of these particular two characters.

Lui in particular seems to enjoy being able to play with this type of character immensely and you can see both he and Ben must have liked working together as the chemistry between them works a little better then any other relationship in the film. Sun Chien doesn't do much for what he's given except be a real nasty piece of work and do everything he can to kill the film's protagonist. Wang is never one to do things in a quiet, thoughtful way so to see him always feature characters like this is unsurprising. 

Given who was responsible for the action, I don't think I need to tell you if it's any good or not but I'm going to do it anyway. It seems that Jackie's stunt team are just as good as their big brother when it comes to staging action scenes. There's an excellent brawl in a night club which shows off Ben's skills as a fighter and set up that Peter is not someone who should be taken lightly. Stunt men get throw through tables, smashed into widows and kicked into signs. This all gives the scene much needed impact and makes it seem just little more painful to watch. There's also a very short but comical exchange between Peter and AIDS Lun in which Lun attempts to attack Peter with a knife only to be effortlessly disarmed. It's that type of moment you would expect to see in a Jackie Chan movie when the hero shows that he's able to get out a potentially dangerous situation without causing anyone unnecessary and serious harm.

However for me the real action highlight comes in the form a confrontation which takes place midway through the film. What begins as a straight up alley way brawl between Peter and a bunch of thugs suddenly turns into a one on one fight against a Triad boss played by Cheung Kwok-Wa. Cheung is an actor and stuntmen who has appeared in a number of films such as Avenging Eagle, Legendary Weapons of China and Aces Go Places. He also made appearances in Wang's previously directed films The Innocent Interloper and Bloody Brotherhood. The most interesting aspect of the fight comes in the contrast of the combatants fighting styles. While Peter uses a more contemporary street realistic style that mixes Western boxing with a few kicks, Cheung's character uses traditional Chinese Kung Fu. I loved this because this was Wang essentially going back to his roots as someone who got their start in the industry in classic Kung Fu films.

The fight has some brilliant exchanges and shows that the two are evenly matched despite having two very different ways of fighting. Even if you don't wish to view the film as a whole, I would recommend at least watching this fight alone as it was extremely rare for Hong Kong films to use classic Chinese martial arts in their films during this time. Even guys like Sammo and Jackie rarely used it and they were the two biggest innovators of the classical style during their prime. The rest of the action isn't as inventive or exciting but during the finale we do get a scene that features incredibly brutal uses of props and lots of painful stunt work. A crazy finale which sees Peter finally going after those which have antagonized him from the start. Jackie's boys make their big brother proud by putting together a finale that is violent in it's execution and intricately put together in it's choreography.

The Angry Ranger is a film I enjoyed quite a bit and would say it is probably Wang's most famous next to Hong Kong Godfather. I wouldn't say you should rush and get a copy like I would with Hong Kong Godfather but those reading this would probably be doing themselves a favor by watching it.

So we come to the final film Wang Lung-Wei directed. A film that is in some ways different to what has come before and one which is arguably his most infamous in terms of it's content. 1992 was the year Escape From Brothel was released.

Escape From Brothel tells the depressing tale of Hung (Pauline Chan) a prostitute who is desperate to get out of the life and start fresh with her lover Sam (Alex Fong). Unknown to her Sam arrives in Hong Kong from Mainland China under the pretense of starting a job as an illegal worker. Upon arrival he discovers he has to take part in a robbery under the orders of Billy (Billy Chow) and his father. The heist goes inevitably wrong and Sam goes on the run. He later finds himself reunited with Hung but it's not long before Billy decides to tie up any loose ends that might connect him to the robbery.

Prior to viewing this I had mixed feelings. I had read some pretty harsh reviews about it but my good friend KennyB of So Good Reviews had a lot of positive things to say. He also insisted that I view the complete uncut version as anything else would have been an insult to Wang Lung-Wei's intended vision. So, after viewing, I have to say that while it's not as terrible as the negative reviews made it out to be I still found this film to be incredibly difficult to enjoy for the most part but there are some good moments throughout the run time. The subject matter alone is so dark and depressing that I can't really recommend it to those who may be looking for a good time. Yet, if you're interested in films that are heavy in character, unflinching in it's violence and uneven in it's story telling then Escape From Brothel might just be what you are looking for.

The acting is actually pretty good for the most part if I'm being honest here. Pauline Chan  plays Hung with the right amount of desperation and sympathy that fits the tone of the story perfectly. She matches well with co-star Rena Murakami who plays Ann, also a hooker. You do get the feeling that they don't enjoy what they do and both have a desire to get out of the life but no matter what they do, they find themselves trapped  in this sad, pathetic lifestyle. It doesn't help that they constantly have Mama (Pak Yan) constantly palming off clients to them in hopes of making large amounts of money. Alex Fong does a good job in his role as the tragic lover of Hung. He over acts some of the time but when you look at the majority of Hong Kong films being made then and now, who doesn't?

Billy Chow plays a role I don't think I've seen him play before. A sleazy, violent and angry low-life who seems to enjoy hurting people and causing trouble for anyone around him. You get the feeling he wasn't particularly comfortable playing this type of role but Billy being the professional that he is doesn't let it effect his acting and he ends up being probably the best thing about this film. 

Given that this is a Category III film it features lots of full on nudity and sex. The opening credits alone which are done in a very stylish manner, attempt to set the tone for the film and it does work. The sex scenes however go on for far too long and it's obvious by the way they're directed Wang had no interest in them whatsoever. He's a director that thrives on violent confrontation, so unless someone is getting hurt, he doesn't seem to put any effort into them. I get the feeling this isn't something he wanted to direct in the first place and was just working with what he was given. 

The film does have some action in it. There's a rather memorable moment which sees Billy thrown down with Sophia Crawford. The reason it's so memorable is due to the fact that Crawford is completely starkers. I have to give her credit for being able to do this. It's hard to believe someone like Cynthia Rothrock or Karen Sheperd doing something like that. Billy shows off his skills and uses lots of painful looking kicks. It was brief but it shows the audience that this is a film in which it's characters don't mess around when it comes to inflicting pain. Especially later on the film where we bare witness to a rather harrowing torture scene involving Ann and some electrodes. Sam also gets in on the action at certain moments. The film makes a point of setting Sam up as a former gymnast who has good acrobatic skills and this comes into play later on. The first real fight between him and Billy is a knockdown, dragout brawl that I thought was good. The choreography provided by Tony Tam and Yiu Man-Gei was slightly lacking but given that Alex Fong isn't a trained martial artist unlike Billy, they must have approached these particular scenes in a way which would have been easy to perform for both actors involved.

Sadly from that point the film becomes a bit dull and tough to watch due to the many extended dialogue scenes, gratuitous moments of nudity and sex. I think that has more to do with me then the film because as much as I'm aware of and have seen my fair share of Cat III films, they just aren't my thing. Sorry to disappoint you Kenny but I won't be watching Dark Street Gigolo any time soon! However when we enter the final reel of the film we see that Wang Lung-Wei finally enters his element as a director and we are treated to a very brutal fight taking place on a construction site. This is where everything fell into place from the fight choreography to the acting. The fight choreography is especially worth mentioning as unlike say a Jackie Chan film where you have the happy go lucky policeman defending himself. Here we have two characters trying to outright kill each other and trying to use their environment to achieve it. Benny Lai even makes a quick cameo before being gutted by Billy. Wang just loves getting innocent people caught up in his characters shenanigans.  

The film ends in such a dark, nihilistic way that given what's come before during the runtime it's difficult to imagine it ending any other way. Escape From Brothel is a film you could easily skip if you weren't all that inclined to see it and would only recommend it to those who are into Cat III movies. The most bizarre thing about the film is that's it's Wang Lung-Wei's second most financially successful behind Bloody Brotherhood. So go figure.

So there it is.

The directorial career of Wang Lung-Wei. Having viewed all of his films it has come to the conclusion that while he may not have been a challenger to the likes of John Woo and Ringo Lam, he certainly knew what he was doing when it came to making a movie. He was a director of films that are filled with raw, human emotion, blood soaked violence and memorable characters. It's a shame he never made any more films as I would love to see what he could do with a film made in the Hong Kong Film Industry as it is today.

A special thank you to each and every one of you who have followed what has been an incredibly cinematic journey. I hope you all enjoyed the ride. Be sure to keep checking back regularly for more reviews, articles, retrospectives and columns right here at Chopsticks On Fire.

Jetruary #5: The Master (1992)

It's now time for my final review for this year's Jetruary. To conclude the theme of Jet's earlier career I'll be looking at a film he made before he was launched into super stardom with the Once Upon A Time In China series, The Master. Directed by Tsui Hark and filmed entirely on location in Los Angeles Jet stars in what is essentially a prototype movie for the afore mentioned film series.

Jet plays Jet. Hong Kong films of this era sometimes didn't go the trouble of giving their stars character names. A young martial artist arriving in LA to help with his master's  medicine shop only to find he's been the victim of a brutal assault at the hands of a violent gang of fighter led by the psychotically violent Johnny. Jet attempts to re-establish his master's livelihood while fending off attacks from the gang looking to end their lives.

As I said before this film could be viewed as a prototype to the Once Upon A Time In China series. First of all the Cantonese title is Wong Fei-Hung '92. Jet strikes the trademark Wong Sifu fighting stance throughout the film and the name of his master's clinic is called Po Chi Lum. Named after the clinic run by the Wong Fei-Hung. It's possible Tsui Hark was experimenting to see how Jet could play the role of the famous martial arts master and he must have been satisfied with the result because Jet would go on to depict Wong Sifu in 5 different movies. What makes this film different is the way the story plays out and how the characters interact with each other.

Jet displays a more quick-tempered and lively personality. More in tune with how he acted in Shaolin Temple and Swordsman II. He does display the very familiar mannerisms he would show in his later films and it's here that he truly establishes his on-screen persona. While he would play Wong Fei-Hung more seriously, His youthfulness and energy would show themselves in the delightfully mad Fong Sai-Yuk films. He gives a good performance here and really does come across as the righteous hero type audiences would come to know him as. 

Jet also gets to work with a fairly decent supporting cast. Yuen Wah plays his master, Uncle Tak and it's funny seeing him donning make-up to appear older then he was at the time. I had no problems with his acting as I always thought he did fairly well whenever he was given dramatic material to work with. Crystal Kwok, who also appeared in the rather thankless role of Jackie Chan's secretary in Dragons Forever, plays the love interest but much like Nina Li in Dragon Fight, Jet never really displays any romantic feelings toward her throughout the film. Given that this was filmed on location a number of non-Asian actors appear. Anne Rickets plays a young woman who helps Uncle Tak back to health. She appears in a number of scenes but oddly enough her character was never all that integral to the plot but she does well enough for someone on a film where the crew could barely speak English.

There's a few other actors but the only one really worth mentioning is Jerry Trimble. A former world kickboxing champion and Tae Kwon Do expert, Jerry got his start in the industry working on the film King of the Kickboxers. He made another film afterwards, Fist of Fire. Which starred a teenaged Jonathan Ke Quan. Here he really gets to break out and show what he can do in the numerous fight sequences he gets to partake in. Acting wise he just gets to pull angry faces and make threats but he does look magnificent when throwing a kick. Jerry is still very much involed in the industry. Most recently in the Hollywood adaptation of the television/radio series The Green Hornet.

Despite the film's story not being particularly memorable, a lot of martial arts action is thrown in to keep your interest through out. Choreographed by Yuen Wah and gentleman by the name of Brandy Yuen. Their style of screen fighting isn't particularly intricate or flashy. They seem to focus more on power moves, limb locks and takes downs. Practical is a word I would definitely use to describe the fighting. Which works as this is meant to be a realistic and grounded street movie as opposed to a hyped up almost comic style adventure film. Having said that. Jet and Jerry do get to show their full repertoire of moves. When you have two people like that working on a film like this it would be foolish not to. The opening fight between Yuen Wah and Jerry is very good. It establishes right off the bat the type of action we're going to see. Much like Trimble's contemporary Loren Avedon, he has a penchant for fancy kicks. That's natural given his chosen style of fighting but he is a joy to watch and it's amazing to see him really get to gripes of Hong Kong style fight choreography as many western practitioners seem to really struggle with the style.

Fortunately we don't get that with Jerry and when you see him and Jet face each other in the final reel they seem to click very well. Much like his earlier films Jet gets to do more realistic and ground based martial arts. This the style I prefer to see Jet perform as he just looks absolutely astounding. Stunt man/author/fight choreographer John Kreng, who worked on the film, recounted in an interview on the DVD that when he worked with Jet he would hit extremely hard and he was every bit as fast, if not faster then how he was depicted on screen. He also told a story how during production Jet broke his arm and was forced to film with a cast and during a fight scene John had to attack and recalls how the subsequent blocking technique coupled with the cast on Jet's arm felt like he was being hit the arm with a rock.

This was young Jet in his prime and like I said in the review for Born to Defend he's very rarely ever looked better then during this period in his career. Even in his later classics like Fist of Legend or Fearless, you always got the sense he was putting the brakes on and never really pushing to his full potential. Maybe this was the spare any of the stunt men he worked with any due pain or to avoid any further injuries upon his own person. For whatever the reason. This was the last time, in my view, we would ever get to see full on Jet Li.

That's an excellent way to describe his fighting in here. Full on. His final bout with Jerry is absolutely fantastic. They really hit it off, for want of a better a phrase, during this scene and you can see both men are really trying to best each other. With Jet's low and painful punching combinations and Jerry's stiff and painful looking kicks both their respective styles mesh complimented by Yuen Wah's more practical fight choreography. It's a great fight and should be viewed by anyone who has yet to see it.

So that is the end of Jetruary for this year. If I'm still doing the blog next February (Which is likely) then you can rest assured that Jetruary will return. Thank so much for everyone who has taken the time to read my reviews. I hope you enjoyed them all. Be back next week for what will be the start of the Mao March Marathon!

Jetruary #4: Swordsman 2: Invincible Asia (1992)

For my fourth entry into Jetruary I decided to review what is essentially Jet's first entry into the fantasy martial arts genre. In the sequel to the classic Wu Xia epic directed by King Hu, Jet Li replaces original star Sam Hui as the swordsman Ling in what is seen as a film that not only manages to be a worthy follow up to the original but surpass it in many ways. Ling is a man who has a love for drinking, singing and women. Along with his faithful companion Kiddo (Michelle Reis) they both retreat to the mountains intent on retiring from the martial arts world and lead a quiet life. However they soon get involved in a plan to rescue Master Wu (Yen Shi-Kwan) who has been imprisoned by the mysterious Dawn (Brigitte Lin) who plans on ruling over Asia using his new abilities gained from a powerful scroll granting the user supernatural abilities.

At this point in Jet's career he had mostly done realistic and traditional martial arts action and this is the first time we see him donning wires and flying through the air with all the charm and grace he possesses. The style of action is very different to that of Shaolin Temple or Dragon Fight but it's easy to see why Jet would end up going this route in his later films. While he looked incredible doing more grounded kicking and punching, here we see him doing amazing flying kicks and lightening fast sword displays, it's the type of action that would go on to define his on-screen style well into his career and Swordsman II is where it all started. First of all, his on-screen persona is very different to what he has displayed previously. In Dragon Fight he was very much the stoic hero, down playing his emotions for the most part. Here we see him laughing, smiling, singing and generally just having a good time.

It reminded me very much of the personality he displayed in Shaolin Temple but here he really brings it forward and does an excellent job of differentiating his character to ones he had played previously. He does get more serious as the film progresses, especially in the final act of the film and it's easy to see why he was Tsui Hark's number one choice to play Wong Fei-Hung in the excellent Once Upon A Time In China series. This is definitely a must see for fans of Jet as it allows you as a viewer to see him really getting to grips with how he wanted to portray himself on the big screen.

Jet also gets to work with a great cast of Hong Kong talent. Michelle Reis plays his companion Kiddo. A tomboy sword fighter with a crush on our hero. She does well enough given the material she's working with and looks good in the many sword fights she partakes in, which is impressive as Michelle isn't someone with an extensive martial arts background. Rosamund Kwan plays one of Jet's love interests and gets to kick some serious ass with a bull whip. Sadly she doesn't get to really show off her excellent acting talent but does get to really use those big expressive eyes which I find almost hypnotic at times. Yen Shi-Kwan rocks out as Master Wu and Brigitte Lin plays the role that would define her career as Dawn, a martial artist who goes through a gender transformation in order to become the strongest martial artist in all of Asia.

This is interesting as this type of character is very unique to Chinese cinema. The idea that in order to really become the most powerful of fighters, one must go through such a transformation is an incredibly unique idea that it's odd  it hasn't been explored outside of Asia. Imagine how mad The Matrix would be if in order for Neo to be victorious over Agent Smith he'd have to get rid of his wedding tackle and grow a pair of breasts. As I said this was the role that would define Brigitte's career and she would go on to reprise the role on Swordsman 3 and also play variations on the character in films such as Deadful Melody and Three Swordmen. She does an absolutely stellar job playing Dawn with such conviction that critics did take notice and nominated her for a Hong Kong film award, which she sadly did not win.

These kinds of odd and wild ideas are what help shape the Wu Xia genre as a whole. The fact that these worlds are not constrainted by things such as gravity and allow characters to fly through the air and display techniques which wouldn't work in other genre films. This style of film making is definitely an acquired taste when you compare it to more traditional martial arts films but you'll find that Wu Xia epics are some of the most beautifully put together and visually creative films you'll ever see. It's always nice to see modern Chinese films makers revisit the genre now and again and it seems Jet has strapped on the wires one more time in the upcoming Flying Swords of Dragon Gate which I'm very excited about seeing.

In charge of the fantastical sword play is Ching Siu-Tung, a director and fight choreographer who would go on to be the go to guy for this type of film. It seems he made the transition from doing normal ground based Kung Fu and began his long career in the Wu Xia genre. Here he displays his abilities as not only an incredibly fast story teller but also a brilliant choreographer. The many fights set through out the film are excellent and he uses the sword play style to make all the cast look magnificent. Swordsman 2 is one of the finest examples of the genre and is a great introduction to those who may never have seen this type of film making before.

One thing I would like to address is the relationship between Jet and Brigitte's characters. When they first meet Ling is unaware that Dawn is a man. His outward appearance has given him the feminine looks of Brigette but his voice still has a masculine tone. Ling is unaware of this as Dawn doesn't utter a single word and immediately you can see an attraction between the two. As the story moves along things such as sexuality and morally are called into question and these are very weighty subjects that are being addressed here. Especially given the fact that this a film that features a woman with a bullwhip capable of ripping men limb from limb but the fact that these issues are addressed is what really raises Swordsman 2 above it's predecessor. 

While the original was content on just telling a good old fashioned story of good versus evil, Swordman 2 challenges social taboos by having two male characters fall in love. Sadly, the conclusion to this story didn't reach a particularly satisfying one but Ching Siu-Tung has to be commended for telling such a bold story. It also helps that you have two capable actors in Jet and Brigette. They have good chemistry, even in the early scenes when Dawn is completely silent, the way he looks at Jet you can see that he is slowly becoming enamored by him. Likewise with Ling who seems to be attracted by Dawn's air of mystery. It's without a doubt one of  the highlights of the film and it would be great to these themes explored in more modern Chinese films.

Swordsman 2 is an instant classic that should be viewed by anyone who is a fan of Hong Kong films. We get some crazy action and a fantastic story that really makes it a must see for fans of anyone involved. For those who would be interested in wanting to learn more about Brigette's character and the idea of transsexualism in Asian cinema should read my friend Meredith's review Swordsman 2's Invincible Asia and the tradition of Cross Dressing in Kung Fu movies.

That's it for this week. This was intended to be the last entry into Jetruary but I've decided to review one more film to close out the month so be back next week.

Showdown (1993)

Ken Marks (Kenn Scott) arrives at his new school and quickly makes enemies of Tom (Ken Mcleod) who not only happens to be the toughest bully in school but a top underground fighting champion. One day Ken is saved from a beating by the school janitor Billy Grant (Billy Blanks) and he decides to train Ken so he can defend himself. As it turns out Tom's martial arts teacher is a man called Lee (Patrick Kilpatrick) who is out to take revenge on Billy for being the man responsible for his brother's death.

Right, this is going to be a tough one to review because having just finished watching this only ten minutes before I started writing this review, I'm actually struggling to remember everything that happened. Not because the plot was dense or that the story moved at a lightening pace but because Showdown is so bland and unoriginal, there's not a single original idea in the whole thing. As you can tell from the plot outline, it's Karate Kid all over again but what makes this one different to other Karate Kid clones like No Retreat, No Surrender, is that particular movie has a lot going for it.

Showdown does not. The film was released in 1993 among the huge glut of martial arts movies that followed the release of the Van Damme movie Kickboxer. Film makers all over Hollywood were looking for the next big action star and what followed was awful, derivative crap that was released quickly to video and took up valuable shelf space in video rental stores. There were a few exceptions here and there but you would have to wade through lots of terrible movies to find them.

As for as the cast goes. They're okay for the most part. Kenn Scott, who played Raphael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II isn't a great actor by any stretch but he does okay in most of the fight scenes he's given. The most hilarious thing about him though is that they try and hide the fact that he has an athletic physic for most of the film to create the illusion he's a skinny loser so when later on when he's being trained by Billy, we're meant to buy the fact he did a few press ups to get some muscle. It's silly but very funny at the same time. Blanks gives his usual calibur of acting. Being one of the few black action stars of the 90's he gets the better fights in the film and he has talent but very few of the movies he made actually knew how to tap into it. 

Since Ken attends one of the most cliched high schools in movie history, he inevitably gets the goofy best friend played by John Asher. Surprisingly John gives what is probably one of the better performances as he doesn't go too over the top with it and shows that he can be funny, only he didn't get good material to work with so his talent is somewhat hampered by the clunky dialogue. One definite thing that surprised me was the actress who played Julie, Ken's love interest. Why was it surprising? because she is played by Christine Taylor. That's right, Ben Stiller's wife is in this god awful movie. Of course this was very early in her career and she does fulfill the role well enough but you get the feeling she's bored throughout the whole thing.

That leaves us to talk about the villains of the movie. Firstly, Tom played by Ken Mcleod. If high school movies taught us anything, it's that school bullies are complete psychopaths and Tom doesn't do anything to buck the trend. Whenever he sees Ken talk to Julie he goes into a complete psychotic rage and tries to beat the crap out of him, how someone like this is able to attend high school is very strange but then again, this is the world of movies so stupid things that defy logic always happen. He's a very angry character and is essentially there to earn the audience's scorn, which he does. So mission accomplished I guess.

Rounding off our comic book villains is Patrick Kilpatrick as the big bad Lee. Another familiar face who has appeared in a huge number of movies and TV shows. You thought Tom was a whack job? just wait till you see Lee in action. His personality makes Kreese from Karate Kid look like a boy scout leader. He delights in hurting his students and expects them to show no mercy to their opponents, even going so far as to endorse them fighting to the death. Why people would want this man to be their martial arts teacher is beyond me but you can see the actor playing him is having fun. 

Which leaves us to talk about the action. Now given the involvement of Blanks and it being primarily a US production, I knew what to expect. Flashy round house kicks and telegraphed punches. I was right. For the most part at least. Stunt legend Jeff Imada was behind the choreography and this is one of his weaker efforts. The man is capable of doing stellar work. Just look at the man's IMDb page and you'll see what I'm talking about. The one thing that always disliked about most of 90's American martial arts movies is that the stars never really get to show off their full move set. Scott, Blanks and Mcleod are all impressive practitioners but it seems that most of the director's they worked with refused to really let them cut loose during the fight scenes.

Which is odd when you consider that the film was directed by Robert Radler. The man who directed Best of the Best and Best of the Best 2. Two examples of some of the better action movies of that era. I get the feeling they were working to an incredibly tight schedule and as a result the quality of the action suffered. There's a nice sequence in which Billy fights two hit men sent by Lee. It starts out pretty bad with horrible camera work but it's when Billy goes against Hollywood stunt man James Lew that it actually becomes much better, there's a particularly painful moment when Billy throw a knee in Lew's face. That kind of down and out brutality would have been most welcome in the other action scenes.

This being a Karate Kid rip-off it wouldn't be complete without the obligatory training montages. These are actually my favourite moments from these movies. It's hilarious seeing our hero training hardcore, all the while listening to some cheesy late 80's rock ballad play over the top. It's a shame this is a convention that is mostly ignored by modern movies these days. Thing is though, the reason it isn't used is because it has become so cliched that the only time you're likely to see it is when it's being played for laughs in a show like South Park. Not that I'm condemning that sort of thing. Far from it. I just think it would be so good to see taken seriously again. Imagine a scene in The Bourne Identity in which we see Matt Damon throwing kicks to Paul Stanley's Live To Win. Not only does it create excitement but is just prime piss-take material.

After these scenes we're then treated to the finale. Ken gets tired of Tom's mentally unstable behavior and challenges him to a fight. Meeting in an underground fighting arena they decide to finally resolve their issues. Using their fists. This was where things picked up slightly. You can tell Imada and his crew had a little bit more time to work on the fighting. Both Scott and Mcleod get to show off a little bit more of their repertoire and while the end result isn't spectacular it's still satisfying to have these two finally get to stretch their legs considering they've been forced to hold back the entire time they've been fighting in the movie.

So the fight ends just as you'd expect but rather ending right away with the crowd raising Ken on their shoulders. Lee goes into a crazed rampage and tries to kill Tom for failing. Billy intervenes and we get trained martial artist vs trained actor. While Kilpatrick is most definitely a good bad guy, he's not very impressive as a screen fighter. Imada obviously tried to hide this by having him not do any kicks but instead concentrate in punching and throws. This is actually a good idea as it's a good contrast to Blanks' exaggerated kicking style. Kilpatrick goes in for close up back fists and hip-throws complimented with head stomps and gut kicks. Imada does know, like most choreographers are supposed to, how to play to the actor's strengths.

Like I mentioned earlier this where the fights get amped up a little. Toward the end Billy unleashes a series of palm strikes to Lee's abdomen followed by a swift kick. It was extremely impressive and is just disappointing that kind of choreography was not utilized for the rest of the flick. Blanks is an impressive screen fighter and he really deserved the chance to really go all out and show his audience what he can do. He got to do that in a couple other of his films but sadly, what could have been added to that extremely short list, Showdown falls into the other category of forgettable, unoriginal and bland.

I can not recommend you watch Showdown. Not unless you're a junkie of 90's martial arts movies or a serious Billy Blanks fan. You may wish to avoid this one as there are tons of other movies out there that are actually entertaining, if not on a purely leave your brain at the door kind of way. So, join me next time folks where I'll be posting the first entry in a new series I will be calling Jeturary!

King of the Kickboxers (1990)

So this here will be my final review in my month long retrospective of the cult favourite that is the No Retreat, No Surrender series. Last week I posted a somewhat underwhelming review of No Retreat, No Surrender 3. That's because with each movie they become harder to endure due to the diminishing quality of each entry. It is hard to get through a movie some times that has absolutely horrendous acting and even worse plot lines but I've endured this long simply to share my views on the martial arts action and that's what we're all here for right? okay, then!

This week I'm sharing my thoughts on the last of Loren Avedon's entries in the series with King of the Kickboxers and its like that old saying, you always save the best for last. Well, that certainly is the case we have here. The film opens in Thailand where we see a Thai boxing competition, although you wouldn't know it was supposed to be Thai boxing when the fighters are using Tae Kwon Do techniques but hey who can tell the difference right? except maybe Kung Fu Cinephiles like myself and many others who love the genre.

Anyway, one of the fighters is Sean Donahue played by martial artist Michael Depasquale Jr who wins the competition much to the delight of his hyperactive younger brother Jake. On the way back from the arena, I say Arena it was really just one of those sweaty Thai boxing gyms you always see in movies like this, they are attacked by knife wielding thugs. Sean leaps into action with all the precision and grace action director Tony Leung Siu-Hung can muster and before long the movie's main villain, Khan played by Billy Blanks, shows up.

Yes, that Billy Blanks, the creator of the Tai Bo workout technique. Of course this was before he had developed that and was trying to find his feet in the movie industry as an actor. As you'd expect Sean and Khan tangle but Sean is no match for the grimacing warrior and is killed after getting kicked several times in the throat. Jake tries to fight him but hilariously gets his ass whooped and is left traumatized and physically scarred. Cut to ten years later where Jake has transformed into Loren Avedon and is an undercover police officer for the NYPD. Here we see he's the typical renegade cop who does whatever it takes to get the job done and blows his cover during a drug bust. Next we are treated to a very snappy and well paced fight with fellow martial arts movie actor Jerry Trimble. It's always great to see a guy like Trimble in action, such a shame that people like Trimble and Avedon and a few others never get the credit they obviously deserve.

Understandably Jake's boss is pissed but rather then suspend him and recommend him for psychological evaluation like any normal police captain would do after hearing one of his officer's disobeyed orders and brutally assaulted the assailants, he does what movie police captains always do. Ignore the whole thing ever happened and recommend him to Interpol for an operation to take down a snuff film ring that recruits martial artists and murders them on film. At first Jake refuses, as the job involves going to Thailand and the memories of his brother's death are still painful but after viewing some of the tapes, Jake realises the one committing the murders is Khan. So, after letting out an anguished scream which looks like he'd caught his testicles in something, he flies to Thailand undercover.

Upon arrival Jake tries to get noticed by picking on a local Thai boxing school. He beats up a couple of their students only to have one of them retaliate later, telling him that he's not good enough to take Khan. The student then suggests he find a fighter but the name of Prang (Keith Cooke, the guy who shamefully played Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat Annihilation), the only man to almost beat Khan one on one and get some well needed training. At this point, the whole thing just became one huge rip off of the Van Damme movie Kickboxer. The only thing that really elevates this movie over that Van Damme one would be the action sequences. So, if you've seen Kickboxer then you can probably guess what the rest of the movie is going to be about.

Like the previous film, the action is choreographed by Tony Leung Siu-Hung, only instead of going for the hyper and gritty street fighting style, he's used a more exaggerated style that's very similar to Corey Yuen's work on the previous movies and suits the tone of the whole movie quite well. As I said Leung makes all the actors like fantastic when they start fighting. Avedon has never looked better, with each movie he got better and better as an action star and to this day Kickboxers has remained his magnum opus. To compliment Avedon, Blanks gets to show his stuff in the few fight scenes that he has. The finale set in a bamboo Thunderdome type arena shows two great fighters going against each other and just generally impressing the hell out this reviewer. It's funny, I've seen a couple other movies starring Blanks and Kickboxers is the only one were he's used effectively.

King of the Kickboxers, like the other entries in the series, is not a great movie when you talk about the plotting or the acting. What makes these movies stand out more then most are the fight scenes. Here you have guys like Corey Yuen and Tony Leung giving it their best and you would be hard pressed to find any other American martial arts movie of this period to top them all. If I had to choose one that was the overall best, then I definitely would have to go with number 3; Blood Brothers.

This is simply because I found the fighting to be better paced, tightly choreographed and excellently executed by the cast. So, there you have it, my retrospective is finally over. Now at this point, a few of you who might be reading this might be going "Aren't you missing something?" well, yeah, kind of.

You see, in 1991 a film made by the same crew was released called American Shaolin. Some view it as the fifth entry into the series and while I certainly wouldn't argue with that, I just simply don't have the stomach to watch Shaolin monks sing rock and roll and have the wherewithal to write a decent review about it. I may one day get round to it but for now my self inflicted torture that has been this retrospective will have to end so I can write about other movies, preferably Hong Kong action flicks which I'll be concentrating heavily on over the next few weeks. As well as working on new features for the blog itself, so rather then offer just review after review, I'll have other things on here that might interest my readers.

No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (1990)

And the hits just keep on coming with part 3 of my retrospective of the cult movie franchise No Retreat, No Surrender. This week I'm reviewing part 3 subtitled Blood Brothers. Loren Avedon returns along side fellow martial artist Keith Vitali as two brothers Will(Avedon) and Casey(Vitali) who just can't seem to get along. Will spends his time teaching Karate and by teaching Karate I mean showing amazing displays of Tae Kwon Do and beating the living snot out of his students in an attempt to teach what it's like "on the streets" and Casey spends his time foiling bank robberies and sleeping with any leggy blonde unfortunate enough to fall into his line of sight. No, Casey isn't a superhero, he works for The Company, otherwise known as the CIA, I guess doing desk work gets dull after a while.

The reason these two don't get along is they represent two completely different ideologies of the human condition. Casey is the straight laced conservative fighting for truth, justice and the American way and strives hard to maintain social order in a world on the brink of war between the U.S. and Russia. Casey embodies the liberal spirit of modern society, who has cast off such stifling things as a boring office job and having a mortgage and expresses his freedom by training his body in the ancient form of martial combat. So when these two champions of opposing ideals meet they clash like thunder.

Actually, scratch everything I just wrote, I just added all that stuff and nonsense to make the film appear deep when actually it's less shallow then a half dried puddle. The reason these two whingey little sods don't get along is, well, I suppose it was just to make the movie and the characters more interesting when all it really does is make you want to reach into the screen, smack both of them round the lug hole and tell them to get over themselves. After meeting our fearless heroes we're treated to a scene in which they visit their father John (Joseph Campanella) to celebrate his birthday. Barely five minutes go by and the two brothers are at each other's throats like two hungry dogs fighting over a steak. At this point I didn't find these two characters at all likable. Avedon is certainly the better actor, while Vitali grits his teeth and his eyes bulge out like they're trying to escape his skull in an attempt to make it look like he's doing some serious acting. Yet all this conflict just didn't make them particularly endearing.

After the two storm off, John is left alone. Not long after that the bad guys or as I like to call them the Bad Hair Brigade, as they sport some of the most embarrassing hairstyles in the entire franchise, show up and rather then do the sensible thing and just shoot him in the back of the head, they decide to throw him round the house with some impressive stunt work. When Will and Casey find their deceased father, they decide to go their own way and get revenge on the people who saved John from the torture that is these two arguing.

Yes, I like to think his death is a mercy killing more then anything else. So, will the two of them get the bad guys and also make amends in time for the final reel? if you're really wondering that then I suggest you take your computer monitor (or laptop for those people on the go) and lightly tap the top of your skull no less then seven times, make it eight just to be safe.

NRNS 3 maintains the status quo of thin on plot and thick on action and boy it is thick on action. It's probably the most martial arts heavy of the series so far. After the second movie Corey Yuen moved on and the directing reigns were handed to Lucas Lowe but to maintain the snappy Hong Kong action style fight choreographer Tony Leung Siu-Hung was brought on board. Like it's previous entries the fighting is where the film shines the most. Leung fighting style is quite different to Corey Yuen's. While Yuen often has a fast paced but slightly exaggerated style to his scenes, Leung brings a much more dynamic and hard hitting street style that works in the actor's favours. Loren Avedon spent six hours a day for six months intensively preparing for the movie it really shows. His movements are less stiff and much more fluid and he has a heavier build that makes him look more of a dangerous adversary then he did in the previous movie.

He's paired well with co-star Keith Vitali who had appeared in classics like Revenge of the Ninja and Wheels on Meals by this time in his career, so he was already seasoned in the ways of movie making. Yet unlike Avedon he only spent a month preparing for the movie and ended up injuring his arm for his troubles, so for the whole movie Vitali has his hand in a cast but you barely notice it and it doesn't really effect his fighting. Anyone who may have seen Wheels on Meals may already know how good Vitali is and while NRNS3 doesn't quite show off his flair for screen fighting, it's definitely one of his better films that he made in his short screen career.

As for as the series goes NRNS3 has been the strongest entry thus far, the story is half-way decent but the acting stinks, I've said before Avedon is a decent actor but he over acts just a little bit sometimes and it gets a little grating. The action is by far the best I've seen and is further testament to the work of Tony Leung Siu-Hung, who is probably one of the more underrated action directors to work the action film genre.

So, that's all I've got to say on No Retreat, No Surrender 3, join me next week where I'll be reviewing the next instalment King of the Kickboxers.

Drive (1997)

American martial arts movies very rarely get it right. Uusally the film suffers from poor choreography, uninspired camera work or an absolutely abysmal plot. Yet among all the crap, you will discover a gem that really makes you appreciate the art of martial arts movie making. Drive is one of those films. Released way back in 1997, Drive failed to make any sort of splash at the box office but like all movies of a cult nature Drive has gone on to have an incredibly strong fan following and has enjoyed numerous successful film festival showings as well as bagging some well deserved awards.

The plot revolves around Toby Wong (Mark Dacascos), a soldier on the run from the Red Chinese Army because he has a top secret prototype bio-engine heart that gives him increased speed, strength and agility. Along the way he enlists the help of struggling song writer Malik Brody (Kadeem Hardison) who agrees to help him in exchange for half the money Toby will get upon delivering the bio-engine to an American tech company, meanwhile they are pursued by a violent assassin Vic Madison (John Pyper-Ferguson) and his inept henchman Hedgehog (Tracey Walter)

Despite the plot, it's actually surprisingly well written, the characters all have nicely fleshed out personalities and the dialogue is pretty damn funny at times. It's obvious the cast were having a lot of fun making the movie and it definitely shows in their performances. Mark Dacascos is perfectly cast as Toby Wong. Decascos started learning martial arts at a very early age and got into the movie industry using his talent, he is an absolutely incredible screen fighter and he very rarely gets the opportunity to really show just what he's capable of. His stoic acting style and blistering kicking combinations make a really great mix and it's a shame Mark never really got to capitalize on the cult fame which Drive had given him. He plays off well his co-star Kadeem Hardison who gives a really funny performance. It's interesting as it pre-dates Rush Hour as portraying two minority actors in the leading roles (Dacascos is of Hawaiian/Japanese decent) and Rush Hour director Brett Ratner has gone on record to say if it wasn't for Drive, Rush Hour would never have been made. I don't know if that's true or not but it's a wonderful compliment to the film.

Every action movie needs a good villain and thankfully we're given one with John Pyper-Ferguson as Vic Madison, who chews the scenery with glee as he curses, shouts and shoots his way through the movie, his performance is absolutely hilarious and I've yet to see another movie with him where he's been allowed to really tap into that side of himself.

Yet the glue that really brings this film together is the action. Drive is a prime example of what I like to call kitchen sink film making. It's where the director throws in every idea they can think of and make it work to their advantage. Director Steve Wang really knows how to make a solid action movie, he knows how to film it, he knows how to edit it. It also helps that he has Koichi Sakamoto doing the fight choreography. Sakamoto has been working the movie industry for a number of years, he previously had worked with Wang on Guyver: Dark Hero, which is an excellent American adaptation of the Japanese manga/anime series. With it's combination of outrageous creature effects and intricate choreography, it made sense that these two would end up collaborating on another picture. Much like Yuen Woo-Ping, Sakamoto really knows how to bring out the best in the people he works with. He uses Dacascos to his full potential, allowing to show off his full repertoire of fighting moves.

The fighting itself is absolutely outstanding, you'll be hard pressed to find another American movie made around this time that has the same level of action Drive does. Each fight is expertly put together and each one has a definite Jackie Chan vibe to them with Dacascos leaping off the walls, jumping over tables and using whatever he can get his hands on to take down the bad guys. A real stand out scene happens in a small hotel room when Decascos uses a pair of rubber soled boots to deflect the attacks of electric shock rods and is a great way of showing the creative thinking behind the movie. Now, usually with this type of movie, they save the best for last and Drive is no exception. Taking place in a gaudy night club, the people who are after Toby's bio-engine show up and all hell breaks loose. At first Toby and Malik are trying their best to stop themselves from getting killed but then the rather stupidly named Advanced Model (Masaya Kato) shows up, he is called the advanced model because that's what he is, a faster, stronger, better fighter then Toby. These guys tear each other apart, it's like the finale of Drunken Master 2, it just keeps getting crazier and crazier and fighting just goes from strength to strength, it's one of the few movies outside of Hong Kong that will make make you go "Damn, did you see that!?"

Drive is one of the best martial arts movies to come out America, with it's combination of humour and excellent stunts and fight scenes, it is one of the greatest action movies of the 90's. Fans have been hoping for years that Steve Wang, Mark Dacascos and Kochi Sakamoto will reunite and set fire to the screen once again and it would seem their prayers have been answered with Dacascos making recent comments that he's gearing up to make another movie with him. If you haven't seen Drive yet then what are you doing wasting time reading my rambling excuse for a review for? get the DVD, sit back and enjoy the ride.