One ninja star out of four

Challenge of the Lady Ninja had the potential to be so bad it's good and a fun girl power movie, but was bogged down in sexploitation. The film couldn't even pretend to be about empowerment when it featured ninja mud wrestling.

Wong Siu Wai, a Chinese woman, had trained for 17 years in Japan as a ninja, becoming the only female ninja in the clan. You could tell she was the only woman because she was the only ninja wearing red. Totally blends and keeps her hidden. Her fellow ninja, Koloder was furious because she beat him and is Chinese. She had to go home to Shanghai when her father was killed by her fiancé who turned out to be a traitor. We all have family problems, but girl had more than her share. Upon returning home and meeting up with the resistance she determines to train some women in the art of being a ninja. Her ninja training included a long session of stretching with gratuitous boob and crotch shots and lots of suggestive moaning. I never knew this was essential to ninja training but discovered ninja mud wrestling was part of the experience. Nothing sexist about this at all. Part of the training included one ex-prostitute who could seduce a man by projecting her body in underwear before him and then transporting out. Wong had the same ability.

Lee Tong had four martial arts bodyguard who dressed like aliens, especially the guy with a scorpion tattooed on his bald head. The women work to kill off the bodyguards one by one which entails a vampire poison bite, dealing with a heat seeking boomerang, and an oil or water fight with two women stripping down to their bathing suits hidden under their clothes. Always be prepared! A dude in a Skeletor mask even appeared out of the blue to help them on occasion. I'm not making this up. The final showdown with Koloder was bizarre and had the abrupt ending so many 1970's kung fu movies employed.

Elsa Yang made a serviceable campy ninja, she just wasn't served well by the script. Chen Kuan Tai as her target and ex-fiancé played the debonair traitor always jauntily dressed in suits. The kung fu movie star had one short fight near the end. Robert Tai played the strange bodyguard with tattoos and blue lipstick, leaning into the oddity of the role.

The movie was set during the Japanese occupation, so 1930's or 40's. You would never know that by looking at it. They did work in a few "ye olden times" costumes, but they were interspersed with modern (70's or 80's) clothes and hairstyles, not to mention the many bikini scenes. Modern cars were shown numerous times as well. I laughed out loud when they played Darth Vader's intro music from Star Wars with the traitor's introduction. The rest of the music was of the bow-chicka-bow-wow generic synthetic variety. There are a couple of versions out there, one where the traitor is the female ninja's fiancé, the other where he is her brother. Does not improve the story either way.

The fights were the swish and fall sword fights, most of the others defied the laws of physics. One underground fight was mind bending. Bad wire-fu was often used and plenty of colorful exploding smoke bombs were thrown. The fights really were quite dreadful. Oh, and lots of jedi, I mean ninja mind tricks.

With so many women in the cast I wish that I could recommend this movie. I found it to be hugely disappointing. Instead of being a movie about women ninjas for women to also enjoy, it was a titillating view of how men want to see women ninjas train and fight. Only for a niche crowd, one of whom I'm not.

3/14/23

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Blood for Blood

Ti Lung played a dual role in The Revenger, a film that covered twenty years. The title was a misnomer because in neither the father role nor the son role did he truly play a vengeful character. That's not to say there wasn't plenty of revenge to go around, but at least for the title character, revenge was not his defining characteristic.

Chou Tu is a force for good, protecting the abused and downtrodden. This puts him at odds with Mao, a ruthless and underhanded villain. Chou rescues the lovely Shih Szu and ends up taking her as a mate. After being murdered in an explosive ambush, Shih Szu is rescued by two comedic kung fu experts who help her to raise her baby. With Chou Tu gone, Mao fully established his power and destroyed a family who were not loyal to him. The neutral swordsman, Ling Yun, takes the baby daughter to raise while Mao grabs the family's son to raise for vengeful purposes.

Eighteen years later, Shih Szu tells her son, Chou Shu about his father's murder and how his bones are scattered amongst the treacherous villains. Shu is bent on revenge but on her deathbed his mother makes him promise to not seek revenge only to retrieve his father's bones so that she and the man she loved could be buried together. The little girl grew up to be Hsu Feng whose only desire is to destroy those who killed her family while her brother grew up to be Dorian Tan (with no kicking abilities!) who is loyal to the dastardly Mao. It doesn't take long before the new generation is set on a collision course and the bodies around them start to stack up. Though Chou Shu kept his promise there couldn't have been more death in this film had he gone on a purposeful murderous rampage.

The fights used more weapons than actual hand to hand and were more comparable to kung fu dancing than fighting. There was quite a bit of kung fu posing and conversely, sped up fights as well. Why they had Dorian "Flash Legs" Tan play a milquetoast character who only used a whip, I'll never know. His part was extremely small making it seem he might have been filming another movie and only showed up when he had time. Hsu Feng, as the sister, along with her master Ling Yun, were the two most vengeful characters though they didn't have much screen time either. Wong Ching wasn't the most menacing of evil doers and could come across as a sniveling stab you in the back guy instead. Ti Lung as an eighteen-year-old was a stretch but he did give it a good try to distinguish the two characters. Like a less vengeful Inigo Montoya it did become a bit humorous as he kept repeating to each of the numerous villains that he was not there for revenge, only to retrieve his father's bones because no sooner would he utter the words than the bodies would start dropping.

Twenty years' worth of story with numerous characters condensed into 100 minutes made it difficult to emotionally connect to anyone. The second generation had revenge and familial elements that would have made for a more gripping story had they been properly expanded on. It the story is not compelling the fights have to be dynamic and these fights were below average for a 1980 movie. The potential was there, but this was one skeletal script that fell apart.


3/13/23

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Lots of high flying action that doesn't go anywhere

A stolen shipment of government gold, a police chief seeking a pardon, not one but two vengeful daughters, murderous bad guys, and evil monks---sounds like enough plot for an old martial arts film---just barely. Carter Wong and Lo Lieh added kung fu credibility to the blade thin story which required non-stop action to be of interest.

Lo Lieh tricks some petty thieves into gaining him access to the government's gold warehouse and then leaves none alive. Lung Fei, his loyal henchmen, helps him to clean up. Later, an always stoic Carter Wong, enters Lung's gambling establishment and says his name is The North Wind. Lung is so impressed with the way Carter handles a fight he gives him a job. What kind of job and why does he trust him so quickly? Story convenience. Two different women, Nancy Yen, the daughter of two innocent people killed during the robbery and Chi Lan, the daughter of one of the murdered petty thieves, butt heads working against each other for the same goal of avenging their families. James Tien shows up as Lo Lieh's #1 ruthless minion. Miao Tien as one of the Three Tigers works to discover where the gold is with his two buddies. People are pretty touchy and nearly everything results in a fight with everyone either looking for the gold or vengeance.

The fights varied, some were below standard for this time frame, others were better depending on who was fighting. Nancy could almost be seen counting her steps in a couple of fights. Chi Lan, who only made one movie, was more fluid and athletic. Their choreography incorporated too many unnecessary jumps simply to add motion. Generally, if Lung Fei, Carter, Lo, or James were in a fight scene they flowed better. These guys were old pros at fight choreography by this time in their careers. Much of it was the of the strike, block, lock method, some faster than others. The weapon fights used a variety of styles amid wire work. The monks utilized a giant lantern with old UFO sounds which could spin out poisoned darts. Per usual, the finale took place in what looked like a quarry. These old Taiwanese films were the equivalent of a mom telling her rambunctious kids to go play outside. Somehow the final fights always seemed to end up outdoors.

There wasn't much story or character development even for a kung fu flick. What this movie had going for it was almost constant action and a likeable cast. I always enjoy the chance to watch Carter Wong and Lo Lieh square off. Having said that, this film would only be for fans of the actors or the genre as the plot was more lead than gold.

3/13/23

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One sweet martial arts action fest!

If you enjoy martial arts action films and don’t mind a lackluster story---check your brain at the door and kick in your suspension of disbelief, make some popcorn and sit back and be prepared to be amazed by Jeeja Vanin in her first starring role.

Chocolate's storyline uses the most dated of plots. A jealous crime boss doesn't like the woman he loves falling in love with someone else. The woman eventually sends her lover away to save him and has his child in secret. The child turns out to have autism and the woman runs up debts for her care and even more debts when the mom turns out to have cancer. The girl and a boy the mom adopted find her mom's old debt collection book and head out to try and collect the money from some shady characters. Fortunately, the girl has learned Muay Thai and other martials arts from watching tv and video games. I'm going to skip over the magical autism abilities discussion. The story setup is simply a reason for her to drop kick a wide assortment of baddies in ice houses, meat factories, and the Big Bad's headquarters. And punch and kick she does in the most creative ways you are likely to see. The fights started out fairly rudimentary and continued to crescendo until the bonkers, long finale fights that were as brutal as they were graceful.

The writing and acting were mediocre to poor. Just like in a Kaiju movie, when it takes the monster 30 minutes to show up, the only thing people really care about, this film took about that long to get the action rolling as well. The story was nearly irrelevant because the star of this show was Jeeja's astonishing ability to contort her body into a beat down machine, dodging objects, fists, and kicks while delivering punishing blows to men and women twice her size. I read that several actors were injured while making this film and it was not surprising when you see the hard slamming falls people took throughout the fighting. The fight choreography started out slow and breathlessly moved to astonishing.

If you are looking for stellar performances and an interesting, cohesive story, you are likely to be disappointed. However, if you enjoy exciting martial arts choreography, especially with a kickass female lead, this is definitely one to try out.


3/11/23

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Even though I'd watched the other two movies in this trilogy starring Aaron Kwok in the titular role, I had avoided this film due to disparaging reviews of it. I could not bear to watch a strong cast in cringetastic performances. Much to my surprise I enjoyed it. Was it a great movie? No. Was it an average CGI laden offering with a familiar story? You betcha. But that sums up a lot of movies in this genre. I usually set my expectations low and just sit back and enjoy the spectacle whenever possible.

I have no idea whether the story was true to the book, I simply go by whether the movie was entertaining as told on the screen. When a crystal used to rebuild the heavenly realm falls from the sky and creates a special monkey baby, both heavenly and demon realms take note. The young monkey is taken to train with one of the heavenly masters. After finishing training with his sifu Subhuti/Puti where he is given the name Sun Wukong, his master tells him he must leave to learn positive thoughts and attain enlightenment. As he begins his adventures as the Handsome Monkey King on Huagoa, gaining his cudgel and uniform, The Monkey King brought about the three signs that led to the Bull Demon King once again attacking the heavenly realm. Manipulated by the evil horned one, Sun Wukong aids him in bringing about the disaster.

Donnie Yen so seamlessly blended into the makeup and furry suit that I honestly forgot it was him playing the role most of the time. It must have been freeing to perform such a playful role since most of his movies require him to be cold, stoic, and/or angry. He and his stunt double along with his choreography made for agile, creative fights whether on the ground or flying. Chow Yun Fat as the Jade Emperor could play this regal role in his sleep but he did bring a gentleness to his heavenly ruler. Aaron Kwok as the Bull Demon King had less to do, in general being menacingly seductive or menacingly destructive. Peter Ho could be counted on to sneer on cue as the duplicitous heavenly gate guard. Joe Chen as Princess Iron Fan was called on to mostly look dewy-eyed as she tried to steer her man away from a disastrous end.

The music fit perfectly even if it was standard epic fantasy fare. The costumes were well done and what you would expect from the immortal realms. The CGI varied in terms of its quality, but coming out of Hong Kong at this time I was impressed. The underwater realm, especially the giant octopus wasn't very convincing, but I've seen far worse, I watched Big Octopus (2020). The colors and movement could overwhelm the story at times, however, we are talking about a magic monkey and horned evil dude taking on a dragon, so I just rolled with it.

This movie isn't for everyone. It could be campy, okay, was campy more often than not, but that's something I don't usually have a problem with. There was a fairly simple storyline, even if some of the periphery stories were give short shrift, with lots of martial arts action and bright shiny objects. Yen, Kwok, and Chow all did a more than adequate job of conveying their characters. Out of the three films this rated pretty evenly with the second in the trilogy for me. Even if I knew where the story was going from the beginning, having watched other Monkey King movies, it didn't take away from my enjoyment. The road getting there was adventurous and charming enough to keep my interest.


3/9/23

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Ghosts, and zombies, and vampires, oh my!

Check your brain at the door and hope there's not a manic Taoist priest nearby. Kung Fu Zombie is so bad and so stupid it's almost good or at least funny. Billy Chong has to fight a ghost, hopping vampires, real life baddies, a possessed father, and a maniacal vampire in just around 80 minutes.

Fong Fang is the rebellious son of a stern and overbearing father (Chiang Tao having a grand time) who pushes him hard every day in order to be able to fight the Long clan who has a vendetta against them. His words of wisdom when his son wants to take a break, "Meditation is time off." His idea of meditation for his son, is for the son to be tied up while sitting in a giant crock of water. Not father of the year material, but it does pay off when Fong not only has to fight one of the Longs, but also a Long that has turned into a kung fu blood sucking vampire due to a Taoist priest's incantation being disrupted. Cheng Kei Ying plays an inept baddie using the Taoist priest to try and control hopping vampires to kill Fong Jr. Just his luck he's the one who ends up not only dead but a ghost as well! He and the priest go corpse shopping at the local morgue to try and find a body he can be reanimated into. When Fong's dad dies of a heart attack, a body presents itself and the bad guy now wants to use Fong Sr to have revenge on the son. Fong Jr and the hapless priest have to team up to kill two dead guys.

This movie uses wire-fu, trampolines, reverse camera work, and super sped up camera work in a ridiculously fun way. I enjoy Billy Chong's fighting, but he is not a skilled actor even for the genre. To his credit he was young and pretty and never missed the chance to lose his shirt and show off his toned, oiled torso. Even the fights that weren't sped up were quick enough. This was my first time to see human yo-yo kung fu! And the movie also gave new meaning to the terms hot hand and hot foot.

Chong's selfish, childish, and arrogant character was unlikeable for the most part. Thankfully, he did more fighting than talking. The editing was super choppy, possibly due to 20 minutes being cut from the original film, but I'm fairly certain the editing would have been poor regardless. A 100-minute running time shoring up the story would not have helped because the frenetic non-stop action and gags were the only thing this film had going for it. The musical score was as scattered as the plot using a jaunty chase music one moment and shamelessly lifted portions from the James Bond theme the next. The sound department made full use of its zany sound effects to remind you at all times this was a comedy. There was a minimum of vampire gore and papier mache corpses. The most disturbing scene involved a puppy-dog lovers be forewarned.

I learned some valuable lessons from Kung Fu Zombie. #1-the dead can't enter a temple or walk past a picture of the Buddha or they are hit with red lasers. #2-the dead can't enter a jail for the law is the arm of god. #3-huge green leaf hats render the wearer invisible to the dead and practically so with the ladies. They just don’t teach you this stuff in school.

Kung Fu Zombie is everything you want in a cheap kung fu flick with this title. Only for fans of older kung fu movies who know how to set the bar low, like on the ground. For those who don't mind a little cheese to go along with their beefcake, it might be one to try. Remember to bring your leaf hat!


3/9/23

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"A samurai's wife sends off her man with a smile"

Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island brings the great samurai's tale to a close in this trilogy. Miyamoto Musashi has gone from hot headed youth to a wiser, accomplished swordsman. He will still have to deal with his rival Sasaki and the two women vying for his love in this film as he seeks out a better life.

Musashi has followed the advice of his advisors and only fights when he knows he will have no regrets. He finds other ways to avoid fighting while not losing face such as catching flies (before Mr. Miyagi!) with his chopsticks to warn a room full of rowdy men of his prowess. Swordsman Sasaki finds him and challenges him to a duel. Musashi seems to have no burning desire to do this putting him off for a year. He and his young companion and another man travel to a village that has been devastated by bandits. Here he builds a hut and begins to farm the land. Coming full circle, this time he appreciates the lessons the earth has to teach him. His peace is shattered when not only Otsu, but Akemi show up on his doorstep. He spurns Akemi and she cooperates with the bandits who are planning to burn the village to the ground. In a calmer manner than he did in Seven Samurai, Musashi once again draws his sword and takes care of business. Before meeting with Sasaki for their duel he finally communicates with Otsu and settles their personal affairs. The duel on an island with the sun behind Musashi while he stands in the surf with a large wooden sword raised was stunning.

The paths of the two elite swordsmen were very different. The Shogun's officers courted both Musashi and Sasaki for a high-level position with Musashi turning them down. He was seeking a peaceful life and no longer needed to validate his skills by killing men he had no argument with. Sasaki gloried in his notoriety as a samurai in a high position. And I will not forget he raped Akemi in a previous film where Musashi stopped when Otsu told him no. In the end, Musashi, standing in the waves that would continue to lap against the shore no matter who won or died seemed to realize the futility of their behavior.

As with the other two films, I don't know a kinder way to say that Akemi and Otsu were as emotionally sound as two bags of cats. Musashi had never given Akemi any indication he was interested in her but despite all that had happened to her she still obsessed over him. Otsu wished he just an ordinary man, but would she have still loved him if he had been? She fell in love with his fire and knew his love of the sword from the beginning and yet she stalked him to the ends of Japan to plead her case. Having both of them throwing themselves at him and behaving irrationally took away from my enjoyment of this film and didn't make Musashi seem any more virile. Finally, Musashi actually told Otsu his feelings for her. In all his self-development someone should have clued him in that women do not respond well to silence.

The cinematography was lovely when they used natural settings. In the opening scene, Sasaki and Akemi were standing in front of a beautiful waterfall with cascading rainbows. The final beach scene was colorful and moving watching the two men's silhouettes posturing, looking for the fatal opening. The wigs and clothes were rougher and less pleasing than in the second film. Musashi might be going back to nature, but a comb never hurt anyone. The fights were typical 1950's swordplay. No blood for the most part and it was swing and fall action.

Mifune Toshiro played Musashi as the grown man he was by this film and even in a more subdued mood, his charisma still shone. Tsuruta Koji did a good job with Sasaki and his casual cruelty and arrogance. The actresses did the best they could with the female characters, characters too annoying to be pitiful.

Of the three films, I enjoyed the second one the most followed by this film. There were fewer fights and duels in this film than the last as Musashi was consciously avoiding violence when he could. Duel at Ganryu Island made a proper ending for the trilogy with the unbeatable samurai stepping away from the life he had chased after in his youth with one last moment of graceful brutality. The difference afterwards was that he felt the weight of his actions and the loss of life more profoundly than before.

3/8/23

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"Swordsmanship means right-mindedness"

Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple continues the story of Miyamoto Musashi from the first film. Where a young Takezo/Musashi spent much of the time in the first one running around in the woods with angry villagers chasing him, this time he spends a lot of time evading ambushes by a school of samurais that are offended that this nameless swordsman can soundly beat any of them. He also has the two women who loved him from the first film hot on his trail. What's a swordsman to do?

True to his word, Musashi wanders the countryside in order to hone his skills. He duels a man with a chain and scythe, defeating him easily. A monk watching the duel tells him he's too strong and that a man's strength is not forever. To become a true samurai he must learn chivalry as well. Musashi puts a pin in that and takes on the Yoshioka School demanding a duel with the young master of the house. The samurai in the school don't think their master is up to it and seek opportunities to ambush the unknown swordsman.

Meanwhile, the characters from the previous film have moved on. Otsu has gone back to the temple forlorn over Musashi choosing the sword over her. Akemi is working as an entertainer for men, with her mom pimping her out. Her mom, Oko, now married to Musashi's friend Matahachi is cheating on him and waiting for the chance to sell her daughter and ditch him. Akemi still pines for Musashi but is being courted hard by Sasaki, another gifted swordsman. And of course, Matahachi's mom is still crying out for Musashi's blood even after she literally bumps into her ne'er-do-well son. Just for good measure she adds Otsu onto her blood list.

Some battles are better than others as we aren't always shown the end of the fights, only the deadly outcomes. Many fights are at dawn or at night, filmed in the day to look like night which can make the action hard to see. The final battle shows Mifune's fiery fury as he battles 80 samurai, having to use strategy as well as his sword. He also learns much to the priest Takuan's delight when to beat a hasty retreat. Even after treachery and blood lust, the future noble fighter, writer, and artist learns compassion or at least chivalry. He also renounces women. With the crazy ones in his life, might not have been a bad idea.

Mifune Toshiro truly made this character come alive with a wide variety of emotions. His energy and charisma are hard to resist watching. Godzilla's Hirata had few scenes, but the terror in eyes facing Musashi was greater than when facing the Big G. Once again, the women were portrayed in typical 1950's sexist fashion. They were dangerously jealous, short-sighted, obsessive, liars, and emotionally unstable all around. Throw in murderous as well. And then there was Akemi's mother who sat idly by while her daughter was raped so that she could profit off her. Not a good apple in the whole feminine basket.

Though there weren't as many scenic outdoor scenes as the first film, there were still enough to satisfy most viewers. The indoor and outdoor sets varied as to how well they came across. Some were quite realistic and others might be found on a theater's stage.

Samurai II was a more compelling film than the first with more dire consequences and challenges for a majority of the characters. I look forwarding to watching the final installment to see how Musashi transforms on his walk to become a better swordsman and more mindful person. And whether in all the spiritual enlightenment he receives he learns how to take a woman's rejection better.

3/8/23

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The drunk, the cat, and the hammer

Near the end of Chia Ling's movie career, she starred in No One Can Touch Her. For a 1970's kung fu flick, she gave a nuanced performance as a grieving and vengeful daughter suffering from blindness after a brutal attack. Never giving up, she began practicing drunken kung fu and even kitty kung fu.

Chin Lin's father was murdered in front of her by a curious menagerie of bandits. She was blinded and became known as Brother Blind. Drinking copious amounts of mostly stolen alcohol, she and her only friend, a young boy with a sling shot, roam around as she continues to practice her kung fu. Along the way she is reunited with the man who had wanted to marry her and still does and becomes friends with a woman named Wong Mei Gwan (Sun Chia Lin). Also in town is a buffoon of a police inspector and a large man who does manual labor known as Brother Mallett. The Inspector takes an interest in Brother Mallett and soon the big guy is unknowingly practicing the Hammer Hand. The 14 bandits and 2 giants break up a wedding and the fighting and betrayals go to a new level.

The fights were plentiful in this movie, especially the last third of the film. These were fairly typical 70's strike, block, and lock fights. The final fights were more creative using a variety of weapons, even an opium pipe and a cat. Chia Ling did a good job with the drunken fist style and cat style (house, not tiger), so drunken cat style? She appeared to be the most athletic of the lot with Chin Kang, also one of the choreographers, right along with her. Her fight using two swords against a nameless bandit was the most fluid of all the fights. Chin Kang tended to play a lot of baddies so it was pleasing to see him in a more heroic role. With 13 or 14 bandits and 2 giants, there were a lot of opportunities for fights and not a lot of opportunity for character development. Despite her limited screen time due to the large cast, Chia Ling gave a rather complex performance for a 1970's kung fu movie. Director/Writer Ting Shan Hsi also wrote the script for one of my favorite old female led kung fu movies, Come Drink with Me and you can see his writing style shining through here.


Even with the solemn theme, there was plenty of levity, often focusing on Inspector Buffoon and Brother Mallett. Turns out the goofy inspector wasn't wrong about being smart and a kung fu genius. There's a nice little twist at the end even though most people will see it coming. NOCTH wasn't great cinema but it kept my attention and gave me a few laughs and fun fights to watch, I don't ask for much else from martial arts films from this era. I would only recommend for old kung fu movie buffs and Chia Ling fans. As always, I rate these niche, low budget movies on a curve.

3/5/23

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Warning: Convoluted plot may cause dizziness

Gordon Liu stars in The Drunken Monk (the more common title), which is a misleading title. He's not a monk and rarely practices the drunken fist. If that's confusing, it's okay, because much about this movie is confusing. Perhaps it should have been called Drunken Writer for the dizzying way the story is told.

The story is not told in chronological order so here is the gist of it. Lau Chung was saved from drowning when a gang that had killed his parents threw him into a lake. During his beggar times he discovers a drunk hermit who practices drunken fist kung fu. The hermit teaches Lau the Five Shaolin Animal Styles and Drunken Fist. No one trains like Gordon Liu and Lau uses everything he does to enhance his kung fu. When he's trained and ready for revenge, he kidnaps Ying Ying, the Big Bad's daughter, to draw out his enemy. Things do not go according to plan with Ying Ying or her father. As these things happen, Ying Ying and Lau fall in love with each other and leave her torn between her lover and her duty to her father. A one-handed fighter is also wanting vengeance on Eagle Han's Big Bad Wong Kin Chung in retribution for the loss of his right hand but as much as they might focus on this guy, this is Lau's revenge story.

The story goes back and forth, motivations change, terrible editing makes it hard to follow at times, basically, the story may make you feel like you've been on a bender if you try to make too much sense out of it. The ending may have you going, "what?!" At least it did for me. Usually I'm a fan of Gordon Liu's fighting and he's as fast as ever with this one demonstrating a number of kung fu styles. One scene done in slow-mo was fascinating not in the way they might have intended, as Gordon goes to kick the extra, the extra can be seen jumping backwards before the kick is supposed to land. While his drunken master was more convincing doing drunken kung fu, maybe because he was supposed to always be drunk, Gordon's drunken style wasn't as…drunken. There were moments in his fight with Eagle Han where it almost seemed as if they were kung fu dance posing. I kept waiting for them to cue some disco music. Gordon had some good fights and there's no denying he's fast, these fights just didn't seem to measure up to his usual standard.

The film was shot in Korea with a number of Korean actors and extras. It was interesting seeing the different faces rather than the usual Hong Kong and Taiwanese crews. And the scenery in South Korea was also beautiful. It's a film worth seeking out if you are a Gordon Liu fan, enjoy his training montages, or simply like old martial arts movies, but be forewarned it should come with a label that watching it could make you feel tipsy.

3/4/23

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Flirty Kung Fu Fun!

Win Them All was directed by Kao Pao Shu, one of the very few female directors of kung fu films during this era. Though the main plot was a daughter's revenge, that plot was largely overshadowed by her con artist co-hart's antics which actually made for a campy, silly kung fu movie for three quarters of the screen time. Kurata Yasuaki, a real martial artist, gave the film some fight credibility as the gleeful iron finger killer.

Hsu Feng plays the daughter whose father was murdered by the iron finger method. She's out for revenge and somewhere along the way hooked up with two scam artists, Hu Chin and Chen Hui Lou. Hu Chin fights, flirts and scams greedy men to keep Hsu's mission funded. Tien Feng is the Big Bad as he often was in these old kung fu films, well protected by Kurata's deadly fingers. When the women are confronted by Tien Feng's goons Hu Chin not only manages to beat them, and rob them, but leave them pantless as well! Flirty Fu style! They are soon joined by Wong Yuen San, a rather bland officer from the security bureau. For some reason he's accompanied by his annoying and jealous "sister". After numerous fights with the underlings, it all comes to a head with inevitable fight between Wong and Kurata. Disappointingly, the vengeful daughter has no hand in the final showdown.

Most of the fights were pretty good, especially with Kurata involved. Hu Chin, not a fighter, had tremendous help from the gifted stunt men and actors who flipped, flew, and bounced after taking her "hits". In the grand finale, her character somehow completely forgot how to fight and added nothing to the free for all. Wong had some martial arts skills but the character wasn't very charismatic. Kurata, on the other hand, was an accomplished martial artist and he brought speed and agility to the fights with a frightening malevolence. Some of the kicks obviously missed but I can forgive the missed kicks with these kind of faster fights in old budget films due to safety reasons and not always having the money to do many reshoots. The biggest problem I had was that Kurata's character was skillfully and ruthlessly pummeling Wong's and suddenly Wong defeats him. With all the ridiculous things that had gone on for nearly 90 minutes, that was the most unbelievable. No wonder Hsu wasn't allowed into the final fight, Wong was barely believable fighting Kurata.

As always, I grade these 1970's martial arts films on a curve. Win Them All was a fun, flirty, romp with a dark thread running through it. Kurata brought the danger and was an absolute joy to watch kick and move through the final fight. Hu Chin's character managed to not be completely annoying and brought a feminine energy to a very masculine genre. I wouldn't label it feminist, but for 1973 at least Kao Pao Shu made an attempt at putting competent female characters at the forefront.

3/4/23

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No holds barred fun!

Flash Point is a good old fashioned Hong Kong crime drama with plenty of shoot-outs and hand-to-hand combat between cops and bad guys. The story is paper thin and the writers didn't worry about using almost every trope from the genre. What sells this movie is the fight choreography---your enjoyment will be determined on how much you appreciate watching Donnie Yen and Collin Chou fight in their prime.

Donnie plays a detective who is always being disciplined for being too aggressive with perps in his job. The upper white shirts allow it because he's so good at closing cases. His latest case involves his partner, Louis Koo as Wilson, who has gone undercover with three vicious Vietnamese smugglers and their gang. The first half of the movie has a modicum of action, it takes the time for us to build empathy for Wilson who is not the brightest UC cop and Donnie whose only motivation in life is bringing down criminals. It also shows just how violent the three brothers are so that we can wait with anticipation for Donnie to clean the floor with them. As the officers close in on the bad guys and appear to have a strong case with numerous witnesses, the witnesses are murdered one by one until Wilson is the lone person to be able to testify. Character building time is over children, now the blood letting begins. I started thinking of Wilson as Timex, he took a licking and kept on ticking, it almost became comical how many times he was injured. Don't expect much from the basic plot because it had as many holes as a paper practice dummy.

The high point of this film was in the final act as the bodies started stacking up. Even something as simple as jumping a fence became a chance for doing something more creative. During one brutal battle, Donnie's character loses control and the blood lust overtakes him leaving him shaken. The final extended fight between Donnie and Chou was worth the price of admission for this movie. It was vicious, fast, and well-choreographed combining a number of styles and looking more like MMA than kung fu. While there were a few "movie moves", for the most part the brawling seemed fairly realistic. And brawling it was as the two not only kicked and punched but grappled on the ground with bones breaking. Donnie won a Hong Kong Film Award and a Golden Horse Award for Best Action Choreography and he earned it. The stunt guys who did the more dangerous work are to be commended as well.

The loose cannon cop who doesn't play by the rules and the bad guy who can get to anyone has been done a hundred times over and this film certainly didn't break any new ground. The entertainment value for people who love Hong Kong crime and action films lies in the ferocious tension filled confrontations. You may groan at some of the idiotic mistakes the police make but you may also hold your breath in wonder at how fast and limber Donnie and Chou were and remind yourself it may just be acting but these cats were fast as lightning.

3/1/23

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"The world is like a lottery, you take your ups and downs"

A Story of Floating Weeds is an early silent film by Director Ozu. Many of the tenets of his later films would be found in this story of an aging actor and his abandoned and found families. The tiny troupe's resiliency would be tested in life's ups and downs.

Ozu loved this story so much that he would remake it in 1959. I wrote a review for that one and I can say that the two films are strikingly similar, right down to the staging of some scenes. The 1959 version is longer and of course has more dialogue, bit characters were given more scenes, as well as the lovers. I found the 1934 version charming even though it was not as fluid and as narratively filled in as the 1959 version.

Kihachi and his troupe of floating weeds, another name for itinerant actors, return to a small mountain village to perform their Kabuki plays. The rainy season pours not only outside but also inside the little theater bringing their performances to an end.

During their rain breaks, Kihachi visits an old lover and his beloved "nephew", actually his son, and enjoys time playing games with him and fishing with him. Shinkichi has graduated from an agricultural college and is continuing his studies. All seems blissful until Kihachi's lover, Otaka, finds out about his secret family and cries vengeance. She hires a young actress to seduce Shinkichi to get even with Kihachi over his deception. This plan blows up in her face when the two young people fall in love and Kihachi finds out and breaks up with her. Meanwhile, the struggling troupe runs out of money and has to sell everything and disband. When it's revealed to Shinkichi that his uncle is actually his father, the young man understandably refuses him. This is the man who had abandoned him and his mother. His mother, Otsune, pleads on Kihachi's behalf telling her son, he didn't want him to be raised as the son of an actor. Kihachi is left adrift, unsure of what to do next.

Some of the scenes Ozu would use in the remake were here, significantly, the powerful argument between Kihachi and Otaka on opposite sides of the street in the pouring rain. It wasn't as visually impactful, but certainly as emotional. Unlike the later remake, the film began and ended with a train ride due to the mountain setting. The final scene with Kihachi and Otaka traveling away from his son to an unknown future was poignant.

All was not melodramatic, Ozu knew when to throw some humor into the situation. Two actors in a horse suit and a little boy in a dog suit brought about a smile. Unlike his Tokyo Woman, he withheld the tragedy and overt drama, finding his footing in the banal and temperamental life of the family.

I found this film to be more rounded than his earlier work such as Dragnet Girl, Tokyo Chorus, and I Was Born…But. The story felt more thorough and the characters more fleshed out. The detailed composite scenes with pauses for reflection also felt more polished. In a couple of years he would delve deeper into family life, this time with an abandoned mother, with The Only Son. Though sound had been around for a few years, Ozu delayed using it until he felt it had been perfected. With the placards I was able to follow the action easily. I watched a restored Criterion version and it was cleaned up nicely compared to so many of these old films which have been left faded and badly pocked marked. They'd also added a simple music score which fit quite well without sounding too out of place. As always, I look for his teapot scene and even in 1934, it had its closeup!

Despite bitter and surprising revelations, true to Ozu, for the most part there were no histrionics. His characters, as always, were restrained. The only exception was when Kihachi struck the two women who betrayed him as well as his son. The physical violence was quite jarring in this emotionally guarded film. Sadly, Ozu kept the beatings in the remake.

Even in the silence of the black and white film, the beautiful settings shown through. The strength of Ozu's films are the people who nearly always feel authentic making you care about their problems. Kihachi and Shinkichi fishing in quiet unison in a river seemed like a father and son anywhere in the world. Shinkichi and his actress lover made his father worry that he wouldn't be able to be a great man, but Kihachi still forgave the young woman and laid his child's future on her slim shoulders. Kihachi and Otaka weren't always easy people to like but Ozu showed so many sides of them that you still found yourself hoping they would succeed and end up in a better place as better people. Ozu doesn't lay the answers out easily, rather leaves the fate of his characters only hinted at in his enigmatic way.

2/9/23

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"If you fight you suffer whether you win or lose"

Tomb of the River aka Paid in Blood is a Korean crime film about a gang war erupting over a casino being built ahead of the 2018 Olympics in Gangneung. While the story didn't reinvent the crime wheel, there were strong performances that made for an engrossing film.

Kim Gil Suk, played by Yoo Oh Sung in a brilliantly nuanced performance, was the head of one of the gangs overseen by an older gangster. The old gangster has become very zen and convinces Gil Suk against violence when he can. After the head of one of his other gangs allows drugs into his karaoke club, the old gangster offers Gil Suk management of the casino. Gil Suk, being the loyal guy he is, turns it down since it's not his territory. As far as he is concerned the casino belongs to the whole gang and not just anyone or any part of the organization. He is about to have his sharing is caring philosophy challenged when ruthless loan shark Lee Min Seok crashes onto the scene. Jang Hyuk gives Min Seok a lethal energy in a strong performance.

Min Seok starts slicing and dicing his way to the top in an effort to take over the casino. His brutally vicious pre-emptive attacks take the gangsters by surprise and it doesn't take long to carve them up. The code and loyalties are severed. Long standing alliances are broken, betrayals run rampant as everyone scrambles to survive and try to hold on or move up.

Despite all that has happened, Gil Suk makes a last attempt to negotiate with Min Seok to avoid more bloodshed. Min Seok trusts no one and believes that conversation never solves anything, he'd rather talk with his knife. Gil Suk's police friend, Lt. Cho attempts to reason with his friend, telling him romance isn't dead, let the police handle the villain. With the bodies of friends and colleagues having stacked up, Gil Suk has lost faith in the more civilized ways of doing business. "Romance is dead," he tells his friend. Min Seok puts it more succinctly, "Only death will end things."

Though they are still thugs in expensive suits, the waters are calm when the film starts, with everyone working together. Min Seok's gruesome entrance aboard a smuggler's boat strips away the façade of humanity, showing what he would do to survive. His rampage reveals the human greed and depravity lying below the surface of the unified gangs. Before it's all over, basic instincts are tested in a stormy war of survival.

Having seen numerous crime films, this was not a revelatory take on the genre, but it was well made and the acting set it apart from some others I have watched. The music, especially in the final scene, fit the mood perfectly throughout the film.

"Why did you turn this place into hell?"
"I didn't decide anything. The word decides these things. People just follow."

And indeed, one by one, the gangsters follow the path into hell, with no way back and no way out from the violent spiral downward. If you are looking for a new take on an old story, this will not be it. However, if you are in the mood for a bloody crime noir with good performances, this might fit the bill.



2/8/23

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“Things are never quite as scary when you’ve got a best friend.” — Bill Watterson

Learn from Experience 2 picks up where part 1 left off. Instead of focusing on Toyomi and Shintaro's ill-fated love affair, this film focused on the friendship of the three women at the center of the story. Given that their friendships were by far the most compelling story element in either film, this was a good thing.

Toyomi has left home and is working at a dress shop having hidden her pregnancy from all but her best friend, Michiko. Yurie and Shintaro became engaged and he is now working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Yurie, in that standard movie feat of incredible coincidence, walks into the dress shop where Toyomi works. They end up becoming fast friends unaware they have shared the same man and that Toyomi is carrying his child. When Yurie and Shintaro go on their honeymoon, Toyomi gives birth to her baby girl. Toyomi leaves the dress shop and stays with a friend of Michiko. Yurie hunts her friend down and generously invites her to come live with her while her husband is stationed overseas for several months. Toyomi resists but Yurie is a bulldozer and soon Toyomi and child are safely ensconced at Yurie's house. The viewer knows eventually Shintaro will return home and realize he has a child which of course he does. And that he will muck it up as well. Which he also does.

This film was more enjoyable for me for much of it because of the focus on the women and how Toyomi was cared for by her old friend and her new one. Even Toyomi's mother accepted Toyomi and her pregnancy. The strength and understanding of the women made this film and it was all the better for the lack of screen time for cowardly Shintaro. Even his friend could read him. "You can't say no to a rich girl."

In the end, Yurie asks Toyomi to give her daughter up so that Yurie and Shintaro can raise the little girl. They will make the child their heir as further enticement. Knowing the uphill climb before her and her child, in 1937 an illegitimate child would not be readily accepted, Toyomi acquiesces. Yurie dearly loves the baby making it easier for Toyomi to let go. As the sweetly uplifting music plays during the finale it feels like we are supposed to think it's a happy ending for everyone. Toyomi has become a kindergarten teacher, finally dressed in western style clothes. Shintaro is playing with the baby and Yurie has introduced the child to her parents. I still found the ending concerning Shintaro galling. The rich, entitled, man married the wealthier of the two women he was involved with and not only gets Yurie and her money, he also gets Toyomi's child. It would have been easier to swallow if Shintaro was constantly stationed overseas, or died when his conscience fell on him, and Toyomi and Yurie like a couple of sister wives raised the little girl together with help from Auntie Michiko and Toyomi's mother.

Perhaps part 1 could have been the only film and let Toyomi walk away tall, finding her way in the world with her unborn child. While giving her child up might have made it easier on the child and Toyomi, Toyomi's grief was not touched on in the "happy" ending. And Yurie never seemed daunted by the character of the man she had married. Naruse was never afraid to twist the knife so I'm surprised everything was wrapped up with a big pink bow on it regardless of the source material. The film had a melancholy slice of life feeling going for it and the nearly 3 hours for both films felt stretched rather thin. The compassionate and resilient women and their stellar performances will be the only memorable things I take away with me from these films and that's more than some films.

2/6/23

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