The Twins Effect (2003)

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The Twins Effect (2003)

A supernatural kung fu romcom designed as a vehicle for the manufactured pop duo, Twins, made up of singers Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung. Emperor Group bring out the big guns for Twins’ first action outing, recruiting Donnie Yen as co-director and fight choreographer – who gets to channel his experiences on Blade II in another gothic vampire setting – and none other than Hong Kong movie royalty himself, Jackie Chan, who appears in two extended comedy routines and joins Twins to sing the theme tune. The inclusion of both Jackie and Donnie (who had previously worked together in Hollywood …

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Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010)

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Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010)

A brooding gothic horror dealing in the macabre and the supernatural; a murder mystery akin to Agatha Christie; and a martial arts action movie – all rolled into one. This is Tsui Hark at his most magical, spinning a vivid story reflective of his most excellent wuxia work back in 1990s Hong Kong. Li Bingbing’s icy imperial aide, in particular, is the type of character you would expect Brigitte Lin to have played, while Sammo Hung‘s fight choreography enriches the action with his familiar intricacies. Set in 698 AD in the run-up to the coronation of China’s first female emperor, …

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Warrioress (2013)

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Warrioress (2013)

Low-budget British riff on the Boudica story with a bit of Lord of the Rings thrown in, set in a post-apocalyptic world in which humanity has descended into tribalism and ritualistic paganism. A scantily clad warrior called Boudiccu (Fay) from the ‘Danonshee tribe’ acquires the holy swords ‘Opener’ and ‘Dragon Singer’ in open combat and must go on a journey to fulfil an age-old prophecy to fight in the ‘duelling circle’. Along the way she fends off bandits from the evil ‘Falonex tribe’, who appear to be planning world domination from a giant CGI oil rig. The dialogue is impenetrable, …

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KFMG Podcast S04 Episode 42: Mindy Kelly / Janell Smith

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KFMG Podcast S04 Episode 42: Mindy Kelly / Janell Smith

“I will always be evolving and changing and growing. This is only just the beginning.” Mindy Kelly

From the age of four, Mindy Kelly has dedicated her life to the martial arts. Since moving to Hollywood, she has made her name as both a stunt performer and coordinator, working on music videos for the likes of Lady Gaga, Childish Gambino, Skrillex and Metallica, to performing for major action movies like Alita: Battle Angel, The Dark Knight Rises and Transformers: Age of Extinction. Now Mindy has now made her feature film debut as a stunt coordinator – not to mention fight choreographer, martial arts …

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KFMG Podcast S04 Episode 41: Scott Adkins / Mark Strange

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KFMG Podcast S04 Episode 41: Scott Adkins / Mark Strange

“You can look [at] my trajectory as an actor to see how, pretty much, on every film I have got better. You can see that I am not resting on my laurels.” Scott Adkins

Today we welcome back the martial arts movie star, Scott Adkins, who makes his third appearance on our show. Scott and the director, Jesse V. Johnson, have been responsible for some very impressive work over the last few years, including Savage Dog, Accident Man, The Debt Collector, Triple Threat and their latest, Avengement, which sees Scott provide one of his most intense acting performances. It’s a partnership which allows …

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KFMG Podcast S04 Episode 40: Olivia Jackson

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KFMG Podcast S04 Episode 40: Olivia Jackson

“I just focus on things that motivate me and make me stronger, rather than worrying about things that you can’t change anyway.”

It was while doubling for Milla Jovovich on the set of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter in 2015 that Olivia Jackson’s life would transform forever. A promising young stunt performer, model and Muay Thai kickboxer from South Africa – whose film credits included Mad Max: Fury Road, Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Olivia narrowly escaped certain death when a motorcycle stunt went horribly wrong during filming in Johannesburg. Following a head-on collision at …

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John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)

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John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)

Following on directly from Chapter 2, this third John Wick film sees the titular one-man-army fight for survival as a multimillion-dollar reward makes him the most wanted hitman in the world. After killing an adversary in the sacred grounds of New York’s Continental Hotel – a clandestine safe-house for stylish killers everywhere – John has had his assassins’ privileges revoked, forcing him to call-in a few favours from some top Hollywood A-listers in order to stay alive, all of whom are seemingly dotted about in various exotic locations. These include Academy Award-winners like Anjelica Huston – who plays the head mistress …

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Avengement (2019)

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Avengement (2019)

“I don’t remember you being so gangster,” says Nick Moran’s cockney wide boy, Hyde, in withering admiration of Scott Adkins‘ Cain Burgess, a naive gym rat who descends into a cold-blooded maniac after a stint inside Belmarsh prison, serving at Her Majesty’s pleasure. He lands in the nick after a relatively innocuous theft goes wrong, dutifully performed as a favour to his brother (Craig Fairbrass on top form). Instead of being rehabilitated, Cain is further corrupted by the British penal system; his baby-faced charm and affability replaced by a skinhead, teeth grills and facial scars following years of abuse. His backstory …

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KFMG Podcast S04 Episode 39: Sonny Sison

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KFMG Podcast S04 Episode 39: Sonny Sison

“As far as a true Filipino martial arts movie, there isn’t one yet. But that’s definitely on my plate.”

It was after watching Thailand’s Ong-Bak and Indonesia’s The Raid that the producer, stunt coordinator and fight choreographer Sonny Sison had an epiphany. Where were the Filipino action films promoting their indigenous martial arts styles, like Ong-Bak did with Muay Thai, and The Raid with silat? Determined to do the same for his home country, Sonny left Hollywood and boarded the next plane to Manila, taking over 25 years’ worth of industry experience with him to a country still developing as a global …

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Maria (2019)

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Maria (2019)

A Filipino fight film from the producers of 2018’s BuyBust which switches the gender roles in the John Wick story, centring on a vengeful female assassin. It also champions indigenous Filipino martial arts, particularly in its usage of bladed weapons; a staple of Sonny Sison’s fight choreography and something which was equally on display in the relentless, claustrophobic chaos of BuyBust. Like Anne Curtis’ uber-killer in Erik Matti’s film, Maria similarly plucks a famous Filipino actor not known for action films – in this case, the popular local star Cristine Reyes – and transforms her into a badass killer. Reyes does …

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