Uncle NightOwl's Martial Movie Reviews

[NightOwl]

Of course I am interested in any recommendations! Any movie that you want to see reviewed or any thoughts you have on the movies reviewed so far, please feel free to post them!

[username8517]

I'm just curious to what your take is on Five Deady Venoms (it's original title is Wu Du but it can also be found under Five Venoms).

Classic 1970s kung fu style movie. Here is the IMDB listing of it

[bushido_man96]

Nice stuff, so far. I would like to see a review on this one......

Hard Target!!! One of my all-time faves. I would review it, but I don't want to steal your thunder, man! Besides, you do a great job.

[NightOwl]

Whew...mid-terms are finally over! I should get a chance to watch Fearless on a big screen tomorrow, so look for that review coming up soon.

As for Venoms and Hard Target , I've been meaning to see the former for a long time but the video selection at the local blockbuster is limited at best (my campus is in a small town). Netflix would be the way to go for that one, but I'll still need to wait until I am home for the summer. As for the latter, I believe that I've seen it somewhere in the action section...I'll keep an eye out for it.

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(crouching tiger hidden dragon review coming here soon....)

[bushido_man96]

If it helps, Hard Target is a Van Damme movie. You could also do TimeCop, if you are up to it!

[NightOwl]

Alright, I know I said I'd review Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon next, but I just finished last night watching not one, not two, but three martial arts flix. Trying to keep them as fresh as possible in my mind, I am going to start with one of them here.

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Movie: Once Upon a Time in China II

Directed by: Tsui Hark

Released: 1992, Hong Kong

Starring: Jet Li, Donnie Yen

Style(s) Showcased: Wushu

Trailer:http://youtube.com/watch?v=DIk4E5hp3-I

Clip: http://youtube.com/watch?v=iLP3h3Evn2A

http://img476.imageshack.us/img476/1205/ouatic21ok6.jpg

Artist introduction: The last of the 'Martial Trinity' yet to have made an appearance thus far (the former two being Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan), Jet Li is arguably one of the biggest martial artist stars since...well, martial arts movies. Losing his father at the age of two in 1965 mainland China, his mother decided to send him to the Beijing Amateur Sports School at the age of 8. He ended up placed under a harsh training regime on the fledgling wushu program, facing grueling practice sessions and tyrannical coaches. However as the fear of the Cultural Revolution calmed down and relations with the West began to open up in the 1970's, contemporary Wushu was set to be China's national sport to show off to the world, and with the Young Lee's evident talent, he was placed on the Beijing Wushu team (later going on to win 15 gold and one silver medal in China's Wushu tournaments). He made his break in the film industry in the early 1980's Shaolin Temple movie series, and went on to become a big star in asia, before becoming more well known in the US by starring in Leathal Weapon 4 and Romeo Must Die. Currently he is married to Nina Li Chi (a Hong Kong actress) and has 4 children.

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Plot: The second and one of the most popular movies in the Once Upon a Time in China series (there are almost as many OUATIC movies as Rocky ), OUATIC 2 continues the nationalistic adventures of the legendary Wong Fei Hung (remember him from a previous movie?) at the turn of the 19th century as China is occupied by foreign powers and the Qing Dynasty internally decays. And while the first film dealt with foreign exploitation and occupation, the westerners in this film are less stereotypical (although still mostly clueless and haughty) and are not the main villains in this movie. Rather the movie starts with Wong Fei Hung(Jet Li) and his sidekick Leung Foon(Siu Chung Mok) traveling with romantic interest Aunt Yee (Rosamund Kwan) to attend a British lecture on western and eastern medicine. While there, Fei Hung runs into none other than the famous revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat Sen, and they quickly become friends. However during the middle of the lecture, the building is suddenly attacked by a shower of flaming arrows, killing and wounding many. It seems that Canton province is being taken over by the radical anti-foreigner 'White Louts Cult', led by a fanatical priest with seemingly supernatural abilities. Meanwhile the ruthless governor(Donnie Yen) is more concerned with the capture of the pro-democracy Sun Yat Sen than with stopping the cult, and it is up to Fei Hung and crew to clean shop and perhaps even play a role in establishing the future republic of China before they crack open those medical textbooks anytime soon.

http://img476.imageshack.us/img476/1413/ouatic22om8.jpg http://img476.imageshack.us/img476/9035/ouatic25fm9.jpg

Review: While Jet Li has been making a lot gritty urban movies as of late (mmmm...concrete and heavy rock music) , OUATIC 2 is a fine example of his earlier and more traditional work. The movie is also interesting in how it tries to tie in a lot of historical events to promote a message of Chinese unity. The cult in this film is somewhat based on the secret society that led the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, and having Chinese Hero (for both Taiwan and the Mainland) Sun Yat Sen in there is like the equivalent of putting George Washington in Die Hard part IV (it is a little known historical fact that a young Washington chopped down the cherry tree using only his Iron Palm technique). The acting and plot hold up for themselves fairly well, and besides excessive foggy and red lighting in parts there are some nice set pieces. The fight scenes vary in quality, but there is no denying that the last one is a doozy (keep an eye out for the 'splinter scene...you'll understand once you make it there), and overall the action is anything but stiff. Some complaints can certainly be made about the movie however, foremost in my mind being the big fight against the White Lotus high priest. If there is one thing I hate in my action movies, it is lots of wirework, and there are so many wires flying around during the battle that I thought for a moment that it was taking place in an Orthodontist office rather than a crazy cult hideout. Also another thing that bothered me was the complete helplessness of the foreigners to help themselves, and the ease of which the protagonists could take on many of the White Lotus members. I understand that they are not 'good guys', but when you see British infantry unload 10 volleys of gunfire into a crowd of cultists only to give one or 2 a bad nose job, while Li can take on 50 with an umbrella, things seems a little off-balance. Also it is a bit hammy on the underling Chinese nationalism message (especially towards the end), but it's their movie and they can do what they want with it. Overall I'd recommend this movie as a fine example of one of the later Kung Fu films, and if anything it lets you see one of Lee's best fight scenes without all of these CG effects going around nowadays.

Pros-

Good storyline without many of the usual Kung Fu plot cliches

Some great action scenes, especially the last one

Interesting ties to historical events

A very good movie to try out if you want to look at Li's older work

Cons-

A (wire heavy) disappointing showdown against the cult leader

Sometimes a bit too sentimental with Chinese Nationalism

If you shoot someone, they get hurt...except if a Qing or British Soldier is firing.

Some slow scenes (Shadow Dancing)

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SEE THESE MOVIE OR BRING DISHONOR TO YOUR FAMILY:

Ong Bak

Drunken Master

Kung fu Hustle

Samurai Fiction

Once Upon a Time in China II

RENT 'THE NOTEBOOK' FOR A BETTER ACTION FLICK:

The Big Boss

3 Ninjas

[NightOwl]

Movie: Project A (AKA Pirate Patrol)

Directed by: Jackie Chan

Released: 1983, Hong Kong

Starring: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao

Style(s) Showcased: None in particular

Trailer:http://youtube.com/watch?v=m1LX3AB6Obo

http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/337/pa4vb1.jpg

Artist Intro: Sammo Hung. One of the famous trio of marital artist stars emerging from the Peking Opera school, he was born in 1952 already in the Hong Kong industry as his father was a director. In 1959 he went into training alongside Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao at the Peking Opera school before eventually leaving off to the film industry. Starting off as a stuntman (he is actually quite agile despite his size), he eventually become know for his choreography and directing, producing many hits. As both he and Jackie started to usher in the new age of comedic Hong Kong action flicks to replace the dying Kung Fu genre, they worked together on many projects (Yuen Biao as well) before eventually splitting up due to fighting between the three (they would eventually reconcile). Sammo has been in everything from Enter the Dragon to Meals on Wheels and is still directing in Hong Kong to this day. He is currently married and has 4 children.

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Plot: Pirate Raids along the coastline of Hong Kong have been going on non-stop, and the Navy has had little success in stopping them. Even more troubling is when the pirates successfully destroy the Marine Police unit's ships, forcing the unit to disband and join the regular police academy with whom they are bitter rivals. However one officer, Dragon Ma Rulong (Chan) is not willing to give up so easily, and when an old 'friend' from the past (Hung) shows up with a possible lead about pirates smuggling police rifles, Officer Ma Rulong is on the case!

http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/1647/projectadvd1quality4te5.jpg

Movie Review: Project A features a great cast, quick choreography, and plenty of insane stunt work (including an actual fall from a clock tower that nearly killed Jackie). If anything this is a fun movie, so don't expect too serious of face offs or grave of situations (or at least, situations that can't be solved with a little martial arts action). As mentioned, there is some great stunt work here, and even the somewhat 'big boned' Sammo Hung can punch and kick with the best of them as they tear up pirates and gangsters on the screen with swords, ever handy MA weapons, and bicycles (yep bikes...if Lance Armstrong did this he wouldn't have to race so hard all of the time). However one word of caution is to watch what version of the DVD you get. The Miramax version is dubbed only, with updated sounds and music but with no enhancements to the origional footage, thus the sound and picture seem to come from almost entirely different movies. Plus dubbing is just lame...if you can't read subtitles without straining yourself then I suggest you stop watching movies and pick up a book. Regardless, the Hong Kong Legends DVD has restored film and original Chinese dialogue, therefore I would highly recommend it if you are going to watch this movie. Of course even the better DVD version can't cover up the flaws of the original film, and this movie certainly has some. Mainly it doesn't really get going until the character 'Fats' shows up, and until that point I thought that it played along too much with training scenes and scenes from the life of the officers. And of course, nothing is perfect with not every single scene being a gem...but nevertheless, overall it is a very fun film that I'd recommend to any fans of Jackie, martial Arts films, and action films in general.

Pros-

Stunts

Cast

Pirates

(who could ask for more?)

Cons-

Takes awhile to get started

Some scenes drag a bit

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SEE THESE MOVIE OR BRING DISHONOR TO YOUR FAMILY:

Ong Bak

Drunken Master

Kung fu Hustle

Samurai Fiction

Once Upon a Time in China II

Project A

RENT 'THE NOTEBOOK' FOR A BETTER ACTION FLICK:

The Big Boss

3 Ninjas

Edited March 23, 2007 by NightOwl

[NightOwl]

Movie: Romeo Must Die

Directed by: Andrzej Bartkowiak

Released: 2000, USA

Starring: Jet Li, Aaliyah, DMX, Isaiah Washington, Delroy Lindo, Russell Wong

Style(s) showcased: Wushu

Trailer:Couldn't find a trailer so I'll give you 2 clips

Clip:http://youtube.com/watch?v=0QLi0CeQNnA

http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/3619/romeomustdiedvdyf6.jpg

Story: Han Sing (Jet Li) goes to jail in place of his father and brother as they escape to California to join their fellow members in their crime family. However when Han's hears news of his brother's murder, he escapes from Hong Kong to find the killer. What he finds however, is a war between the Asian and Black gangs, and when he falls for the Daughter of daughter of the rival gang boss (Aaliyah), trouble ensues....

http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/7905/romeo7sw8.jpg http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/440/romeo3yh2.jpg http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/8913/romeo2tm4.jpg

Review: Romeo Must Die was Jet Li's first starring role in a Hollywood produced movie, and if anything helped bring his name more into the mainstream of the American consciousness as a whole. The movie also starts off promisingly with an interesting upside-down fight scene while Li escapes from jail to find his brother's killer, but after that it starts to gradually go downhill. This is a movie definitely catered to the average male moviegoer just coming out of the 90's, as it features a lot of 'Urban scenes', hard rap, and metal to draw in teens like seniors to an early bird special. Every black man is a 'gansta', and of course every Asian is a Yakuza wannabe with superior fighting skills as Li struggles with English while he and his girlfriend (played with no real chemistry) hang out and have fun in the flowers and sunshine. While there are some ok fight scenes, for the rest expect tons of obvious wire work in lieu of (more or less) 'real' martial arts, and a blaring soundtrack to help make everything 'extreme' so that mediocrity can get glazed over in a nice gritty candy coating. Also, while some of the actors do a very good job, it only highlights the faults of the others, leaving a mixed bag in that regard. Overall, if you want a good, rougher martial arts flick I would not be doing my job as a human being if I didn't steer you towards Ong Bak as opposed to Romeo, but hey it's a free country, and DMX needs those royalty check right?

Pros-

Good production value

Some good performances

An OK storyline

Cons-

Wire-fu with too little in the way of showing Li's talent

DMX

Tries soooo hard to be 'Hip' with loud soundtrack(but really it's such a square!)

Mediocre fight scenes at best

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SEE THESE MOVIE OR BRING DISHONOR TO YOUR FAMILY:

Ong Bak

Drunken Master

Kung fu Hustle

Samurai Fiction

Once Upon a Time in China II

Project A

RENT 'THE NOTEBOOK' FOR A BETTER ACTION FLICK:

The Big Boss

3 Ninjas

Romeo Must Die

[bushido_man96]

Ouch, NightOwl! A little rough on Romeo Must Die, huh?

I had another thought. Check out some Ken Norton movies, along with Lorenzo Lamas, and Cynthia Rothrock.

[NightOwl]

Gotcha, Ken Norton is now on my hit list...and yes, I can be so cruel sometimes