Why So Lazy? My Thoughts On The Dark Knight Rises' Fight Choreography

Earlier today I had the pleasure of seeing The Dark Knight Rises. The epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan's unique take on the mythology of the masked vigilante The Batman. Everybody is busy giving their thoughts about the film, whether it's the acting, the thematic elements of the film's story or the big action set pieces but I'm not here to talk about that today not the for the entirety of this article anyway. You see, when I was watching it I couldn't help but notice something that kept nagging the hell out of me. I tried to ignore it and pay attention to Tom Hardy's brilliant portrayal of Bane or Anne Hathaway's gorgeous eyes on the big screen but no matter how hard I tried it just kept throwing it's way into the forefront of my mind. Now what was it that bugged me? Was it's Bale's silly Batman voice? Hardy's even sillier Bane voice? The fact I was watching Matthew Modine on the big screen? It was neither of those things.

It was the fight scenes.

Yep, something so simple that should have easily been handled was what bugged me the most. Having been a fan of martial arts cinema for a number of years you can not help but get used to seeing action choreographed, shot and edited in a certain way. You get so used to it in fact that when you see a bad fight scene it gets to you more then it really should but that's not a bad thing because it then allows us to look at certain movies in a more fair and objective way. I know the risks I'm probably taking by posting this. I've seen the horror stories of critics receiving death threats for anyone who says anything remotely negative about Nolan and his Batman films. I for one I'm not afraid of these people. They're simply cowards and if anyone reading this feels compelled to threaten my life for sharing my thoughts then by all means.

That aside, I'm hoping this article will allow me to articulate my issues with the film's fight scenes.

From day one when Nolan signed on to direct Batman Begins he was determined to tell the story in a less fantastical and more grounded way. He wasn't interested in any of the overt theatrics the character had been subject to in the previous cinematic versions. Whether or not Nolan achieved that is ultimately up to the viewer but I for one liked Nolan's take on the whole mythology. He made it accessible, he made it different and more importantly he made it successful which is quite an achievement given where Batman had been left with the last film Batman & Robin directed by Joel Schumacher. He made Batman a viable and profitable brand again. Bale brought some much needed humanity to the role of Bruce Wayne and you can see this is a role that's important to him through out the three films. This fell perfectly in tune with Nolan's determination to tell a realistic Batman story which is odd as each film have hugely dramatic action set pieces to give it that extra Summer Blockbuster edge.

Now, you see, that's all well and good but there was always one aspect of the films I never warmed to. The fight scenes. Batman Begins had fights which were horribly shot and badly edited so it was difficult to see what was happening. I've had many people (Some well meaning but others very condescending) tell me that it looks more real. No, it shows a director who lacks imagination on how to shoot it so does in a way that's basically a cheat. Now from what I could see the fight choreography itself wasn't too bad especially when you consider the fact they had three different people working on them. That seems excessive but for a Hollywood movie where time is money I can understand the need for more people to handle it.

Now with The Dark Knight we didn't get much in terms of hand to hand fighting but it was filmed a little better but this is when the choreography started to work against the tone of the films. The fighting method used is the Keysi Fighting Method. A style of fighting that utilizes elbow strikes, close range grappling and striking. In the first two films of the series this style works because the action is filmed in such a choppy and awkward fashion. You see Batman throw an elbow, you see the bad guy go down. Now when we enter The Dark Knight Rises, things don't look as effective anymore. The first thing you'll notice is that it's actually shot and edited in a competent way. You can see everyone perform their techniques clearly and you see the impact, or lack there of, for the most part and it's here that the Keysi Fight Method no longer works at all.

When you pull the camera back and you show just how the Keysi Fighting Method is used in a fight, it looks weak and ineffective. I'm not saying in a real situation it wouldn't be. The method had some nasty techniques so I imagine it would be quite the opposite. From a film making perspective though, shooting it in such a way loses some of the style's ferocity and impact which I admit the fights in the previous films did have in spite of how they were filmed and edited. I feel with Nolan shooting in this new way should have made him realise that re-examining Batman's fighting style would have worked in his favor.

The fights should portray Batman as the ultimate fighter that he is. A man who is versed in so many fighting styles that he can easily and effectively take down his opponents in a single move but in the finished product it looks exactly like what it is. An actor in a costume awkwardly throwing elbows because the suit doesn't give him full flexibility. He barely even throws a good looking kick. While that may not be part of the core style, throwing a few side kicks and even a flying kick would have looked great and would have fit right in with Nolan's cinematic vision. Tom Hardy fairs a little bit better. His fighting style is more down and dirty and relies heavily on brutal head butts and vicious punching combinations. I was excited when it came for both Bane and The Caped Crusader to duke it out for the first time but the end result just came off so weak and I hate to use this word but..well...lazy.

I know in film's like this time is always a factor but I felt the people involved should have come up with something better then Batman trying to throw a few limp punches and Bane tossing him around. There's even a key moment lifted directly from the comic books that should have been a big dramatic moment but what we end up with just for me didn't work. The fights lacked any kind of drama or impact. Bane is a violent, sadistic, cruel character and while some of that sadism and cruelty did come through in Tom Hardy's acting, The violent nature of the character sadly did not. People were concerned that Tom would never be able to top Heath Ledger's performance of The Joker. I don't want to compare them because their respective characters are completely different but after The Dark Knight Rises, Ledger is still the top villain in my book.

Toward the end we get to see our two adversaries clash once more. A large portion of the run time builds this up as something that's going to be incredibly, epic, violent and hugely dramatic but their fight is just as pathetic and lazy as what's come before. I found it frustrating and disappointing as being such a huge fan of the character, I feel he deserves better then this. One thing I will say however is Anne Hathaway's fight scenes as Catwoman are treated much better except it seems she inherited The Dark Knight's terrible filming and editing problems. Also she didn't get enough to do in terms of fighting. Her moves were great and very much in keeping with how Catwoman fights in the comic books but you can have an amazing fight scene on your hands with perfect choreography but if you don't know how to film it then you're gonna screw yourself one way or the other.

The Dark Knight Rises is a film that gets so many things right that something as fundamental as fight choreography should have been a no brainer but it seems even an auteur like Christopher Nolan struggles to grasp what makes a good fight scene. Soon we'll be seeing a new version of The World's Greatest Detective and I hope that when we do, they hire an action director who can create some breath taking action scenes that do the character justice. Until then, I'll stick with the animated series from the 90's.

The Raid (2011)

Rama (Iko Uwais) is a rookie member of the local police force's SWAT team and he and the rest of his squad have been given the assignment of arresting a vicious gang lord Tama (Ray Sahetapy) who is hiding in a labyrinthine tower block protected by his own gang. When the mission goes horribly wrong the SWAT team become trapped and are forced to fight for their lives as things begin to spin violently out of control. Rama decides nothing else matters except arresting Tama and must fight his way up dozens of floors and through dozens more gangsters to reach his goal.

You may remember back in January I gave my thoughts on an earlier film called Merantau which was made by the same cast and crew that brought us The Raid. I highlighted that it was a solid debut for lead actor Iko Uwais that featured some varied and wonderfully made fight scenes. When I learned of The Raid's existence some time ago I become very excited at the prospect of seeing Iko cause some serious damage on screen. Suddenly the film started to pick up steam. Having been sold internationally it was given a really agressive advertising campaign courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. One Exec even commented how he wished the film would have the same impact that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had when that was released to international acclaim back in 2000. With those incredibly lofty expectations they continued to build the hype and myself and many people I know were immediately sucked in and couldn't wait to see it.

Despite a big release gap between the US theatrical run and here in the UK, I waited patiently to finally see what I hoped would be my number one film of 2012. So, having seen the film a few weeks ago, I've been able to reflect on my thoughts and put them into a written review. I can happily report it was a film that for me, delivered on much of the hype. The many people I converse with didn't share my sentiments, being incredibly critical of the film's story but when you watch the trailer, you know exactly what you're in for so I found it odd that some people were expecting more. That's good for them I suppose but it's like I always say; Watching a martial arts film for the plot is like throwing your shoes in the air, hoping to kick clouds out of the sky.

The plot is what it is. Told in a very straight forward way so the audience can sit back and enjoy the many and I do mean many action set pieces contained within the film's very breezy running time. It's no secret that The Raid was a film born out of necessity. After completing Merantau, Gareth Evans and the rest of his team attempted to put together another film. A prison drama called Berandal which would star Uwais and feature the same style of martial arts, Silat. A teaser trailer was shot in attempt to attract funding but when that failed, Evans was forced to come up with a film that could be shot on a much cheaper budget but still have all the nasty and brutal fighting featured in Merantau. So, The Raid was created and ended up attracting more attention then Evans or anyone else for that matter could ever have anticipated.

I don't have a problem with the story at all. overly simple plot lines are a given when it comes to action movies most of the time so I for one am used to it. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, they fight, the audience has a good time. That's all that should matter. If some people want more then that, I can understand but to criticise the film based on the story I think is unfair and undermines the talent involved here. Since Merantau Iko has become a slightly better actor. There's an attempt to give a backstory when in the opening scene it's established he's of the Muslim faith and he has a pregnant wife. I liked this because it at least gives something for his character to fight for when things go wrong and he has to fight for survival. There's also a good supporting cast. Sahetapy as the gang lord Tama is appropriately bad. There really is no need for subtlety when his main purpose is to antagonise the hero.

There's a few other characters but I honestly can't think of anything really noteworthy to say about them. Except one man. Tama has a bodyguard/hitman in his gang that goes by the name Mad Dog. Played by Yayan Ruhian. Yayan previously appeared in Merantau and was the man who fought Iko in the truly astounding elevator fight. Yayan plays his role to perfection. A man who carries a gun but doesn't like to use it. Preferring to let his fists and feet do the work. it was great seeing him again and I'm determined to watch anything he appears in from now on in the hopes of seeing him pull off more crazy moves.

Which leaves me to talk about what has to be the film's biggest selling point. The action. For me Merantau had some truly spectacular action scenes, from a Jackie Chan inspired roof top chase scene to the brilliantly executed elevator fight, I was confident that the same cast and crew could follow up what were already a high bench mark for them to hit. Each scene was choreographed by Iko and Yayan and it seems they really know how to work together as they have been able to almost outdo themselves with The Raid. Notice I said almost. Yes, the many fight we see here are really hard hitting, bloody and painful to watch but I never felt that it quite caught the magic that Merantau had.

Make no mistake, there's really a lot to like here. One such sequence sees Rama take on a corridor filled with bad guys using the deadly combination of tonfa and combat knife. This allows to really let the actors get visceral with their move sets and there are a few moments which will make you wince. Iko still throws in a few signature Silat moves as well as deciding to mix it up a little using some really impressive ground based kicks and take downs. Iko isn't the only one that gets to shine. Co-star Joe Taslim has an impressive fight against Yayan. It's clear Taslim doesn't have the same skill set as Iko but he does a damn good job of it and he gets in some good hits against his fight with Mad Dog. 

The real stand out fight for me with of course the end finale. Much like Merantau we have a two on one situation with Mad Dog going toe to toe with Rama and another character Andi played by Donny Alamsyah. It's evident that the film had been building towards this and just seeing some of the moves used you can tell a lot of time and effort went into putting something great on film. Yayan shows that despite his diminutive stature he can more then hold his own when it comes to fighting on screen. Iko also gets more down and dirty, something which his character slowly becomes in each action scene. While in Merantau he was more about disabling his opponents, here Iko is all about killing them quickly and efficiently as possible. The fight we get to witness here tries to throw in as many different techniques as they can. kicks, punches, take downs, grappling, submission maneuvers, locks. Anything that looks like it hurts, they use.

Now, I did mention that it didn't quite hit the mark Merantau did and the reason is that it mostly has to do with the editing and the way some of it was shot. Some of the exchanges between techniques are cut a little too quickly and the camera doesn't seem to stay still. It's not Bourne Trilogy bad but it can get noticeable and a little more then distracting. I realise this was probably intentional on behalf of director Evans as sometimes it can help ramp up the tension but given that he showed how easy he made it all look in Merantau, it's strange he just didn't stick with the techniques he used for that film.

What we have though is still leagues above any fight film that Hollywood could ever dream of putting together and even puts a number of Hong Kong titles not starring a certain Mr. Donnie Yen to shame. I got a serious kick, if you'll pardon the expression, from watching this and was very pleased I got to experience it on the big screen. A luxury rarely afforded with Asian titles. The majority of people reading this have probably already seen The Raid but if you haven't, seek it out, watch it, enjoy it. If you have, then watch it again and show your support in the hopes that more films like The Raid will see their way into your local cinema.

First Review - Tekken (2010)

Hello and welcome the first of what I hope to be many reviews right here on Chopsticks On Fire, a new blog dedicated to providing readers with reviews of martial arts movies and TV shows of the past, present and future. First up is a review of the big screen (or should that be small screen?) adaptation of the popular video game franchise Tekken.


The film takes place in the futuristic dystopian world of Tekken City (Yes, it's as stupid as it sounds) a world that has collapsed under the weight of corporate greed and countries are ruled with a (no pun intended) iron fist. Here we meet our hero, Jin, a guy who spends his time running from Jack Hammers (Basically guys in Hockey armour spray painted black) so he can spend money on pieces of fruit and Chocolate. Yes, it seems in the future nice things like fruit, vegetables and sweets are outlawed yet not so nice things such as tobacco and alcohol are readily available, curse you evil corporate bastards!


Anyway, aside from risking getting shot in the head for a Mars Bar he also finds time to bang his girlfriend Kara, who doesn't do much except stand around, pout and get plowed by our fearless hero. After we learn what a jammy little git Jin is we find out he lives with his mother Jun who taught him martial arts since he was a child. It's here we see that Jin has a strong desire to entire the King Of Iron Fist tournament, which is kind of like UFC but with the added theatrics of WWE. Naturally his mother forbids him and Jin goes away in a huff and get a quick shag from his missus. As he's busy getting his end away Jack Hammers (No matter how many times I type that it never sounds any less ridiculous) storm his mother's home and she ends up getting blown to bits. Feeling guilty over the fact he was busy getting his rod polished when he should have stayed with his mother, Jin enters the King of the Iron Fist in the hopes of avenging the woman who had the misfortune of giving birth to him.


And so began my viewing of the most disappointing movie I've seen this year. I'm a huge Tekken fan more so then any other fighting game Franchise and when I heard that a live action movie was being made I was understandably excited as the games themselves provided a really solid foundation for a really good story and could have made a solid series of action films, instead what we have here is Bloodsport written by a horny 15 year old. The cast range from not to bad to just flat out silly. Jon Foo proves he had what it takes to be an action star, he's not that bad an actor and he gets to show off his incredible skill as a martial artist but his characterisation is completely wrong, in the games Jin is a man who is tormented by his family legacy and the hatred he shares for his father, in the film he's a whingy little sod who spends most of the time getting his arse kicked and frowning a lot, not the most endearing of underdog heroes if you ask me. 


It's also worth mentioning that Jin seems to conveniently forget he has a girlfriend once he claps eyes in Christie Monteiro played by Kelly Overton but given the fact the first time you see her she's working up a slow motion sweat in the gym I think I'd probably have a lapse in memory as well. At first Christie doesn't want to have anything to do with our loveable scamp for a hero and makes it very clear but after she sees him in action she can't wait whisk him off to a rave and have him grope her backside like no tomorrow. Yes, it seems that Tekken is very much catering, rather unashamedly it seems, to the teenage male demographic, since Hollywood seem to think that people over the age of 18 don't play video games. It's this approach that turns the whole thing into a great big bloody pantomime.

The rest of the cast don't fair much better, Luke Goss cashes a quick cheque as Steve Fox, stock villain Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa looks constipated as head of Tekken, Heihachi Mishima and Ian Anthony Dake chews the scenery like his life depends on it as Jin's father Kazuya and believe me, I'm not spoiling anything major by mentioning that father-son connection. While we're on the subject of Kazuya it seems Jin picked up his rabid libido from his old man as we're treated to a rather awkward scene which sees his dad bang both Anna and Nina Williams. Yep. jammy sods, the pair of them.

Moving on from the mouth breathers we call the characters lets move to the action, which is one of the main selling points of the film. It's probably by the far the only good part of the film and the only time the cast really get to show what they can do. As I mentioned before Foo really gets to show his stuff but he spends most of the time getting his butt kicked you kind of feel sorry for him most of the time. Cyril Raffaelli, who in his own right has established himself as an action star in his native France provides the choreography and plays to each actor's strength and this arm chair critic hopes despite the finished product this film lands him more work in future projects. 


Usually a film that's high in bone crunching ass-kickery and curvy eye candy would be right up my alley but given that the film doesn't do enough with both to make it entertaining, the whole thing is just dull. The director, Dwight H. Little does nothing to really make this film stand out amongst the other video game movies to hit our screens which shouldn't come as any surprise since he directed such classics as Halloween 4 and Free Willy 2 yet looking at his credits on IMDb he seems to have made quite a success in television directing such shows as Dollhouse, Prison Break and Bones but I never watched any of those so I couldn't comment if he did any better on them. It's a shame as Tekken could really have been the first break out video game to make a solid franchise and cover up the box office stains left over from Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Dead Or Alive.


If you really want to see this train wreck of a film then I'm not going to stop you but it seems you'll have a long time to wait since the UK DVD/Blu-Ray premier isn't happening until sometime between January and June of  2011. The fact it's been pushed back that far should tell you how much faith the studio releasing this monstrosity, have.


Hope you liked reading my first review, I promise the next reviews will on films that I actually like.