In Search of the Last Action Heroes (2019)

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In Search of the Last Action Heroes (2019)

A crowdsourced, connoisseurs’ look at Hollywood action films from YouTuber Olivier Harper, featuring mostly the unsung heroes who have worked on some of the biggest, loudest films of all time; directors, writers, supporting cast, editors and composers. Anyone who grew up in cinemas and VHS stores in the 1980s and 90s will enjoy this two-hour-plus nostalgia fest, full of great clips and behind-the-scenes footage. The documentary focuses mainly on a time when major Hollywood studios were throwing millions of dollars on R-rated ultra-violence, encapsulated by the work people like Stallone and Schwarzenegger. This was the so-called golden age of bullet-ridden …

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Profile: Amy Johnston

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Profile: Amy Johnston

Date of birth: February 5, 1990 (Van Nuys, California, US)

Occupation: Actor, stunt performer, fight choreographer.

Style: Taekwondo, kung fu, kickboxing, Arnis, kenpo, wushu, Wing Chun, jiu-jitsu.

Biography: Amy Johnston was born in Van Nuys, California, in 1990. Her father is the former five-time WKA professional kickboxing champion, David Johnston. Her mother, Kate Johnston, is an acupuncturist. She also has a younger brother, Jesse Johnston, who also does martial arts. The family grew up in Gillette, Wyoming, where her father ran the Martial Arts Center of Gillette. Amy started training in the martial arts from the age of six with her father. She …

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Profile: Alain Moussi

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Profile: Alain Moussi

Date of birth: March 29, 1981 (Libreville, Gabon)

Occupation: Actor, stuntman.

Style: Kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, Brazilian jiu jitsu, MMA, Krav Maga.

Biography: Alain Moussi was born in Libreville, Gabon, in central Africa. His father is from Lebanon, and first introduced Alain to the films of Bruce Lee. The Moussi family moved to Ottawa when Alain was seven years old. He began learning martial arts from the age of 10. His first style was jiu-jitsu, which he learnt for eight years under the Canadian martial artist, John Therien. He later learned kickboxing under Jean-Yves Thériault, a 23-time world kickboxing champion. He also has a black …

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Iron Heart (1992)

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Iron Heart (1992)

It takes a special kind of directing talent to take a taekwondo expert like Britton K. Lee – and genre heavyweights Richard Norton and Bolo Yeung – and create a film so thunderously dull that you will want to throw your TV out the window. It was fortuitous for Robert Clouse that he would find himself associated with someone as talented as Bruce Lee and on the receiving end of two of the fight genre’s biggest international triumphs: Enter the Dragon and Game of Death. In this plodding, clumsy cop thriller, Clouse – directing his last film before his death in …

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Mulan (2009)

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Mulan (2009)

Forget catchy pop songs and talking dragons, this sobering Chinese version of the Mulan story is an earnest and at times effective war movie, and far from family-friendly. In one scene, Mulan smashes a guy’s head off. That may be in the deleted scenes of the Disney version, but I very much doubt it. Other powerful moments include a defiant musical number during a mass killing (expertly and effectively handled), and a brittle, battle-hardened malaise which sets into the film around the second act, highlighting the monotony and futility of war. Jingle Ma takes his cues from the moody, sweeping …

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Mulan II (2004)

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Mulan II (2004)

This direct-to-video sequel does well to unravel much of the magic of the first film, most notably in substituting its original themes of loyalty, courage and honour for a far more predictable Disney fairytale where everyone defaults to heteronormative gender stereotypes. Taking place a month after the events of the first film, its now the sanctity of marriage which needs protecting (yawn). Despite being the ‘hero of China’, Mulan toils in the fields like a peasant worker showing kids her kung fu while her family fret about when she’s getting married. Meanwhile, her boring warrior boyfriend, Li Shing, is promoted …

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Mulan (1998)

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Mulan (1998)

A welcomed hit for Disney following the slightly damp reception for both Hercules and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Like many of the other titles released during the so-called ‘Disney Renaissance’ in the 1990s, this is based on another well-known story – in this case, the Chinese poem ‘Ballad of Mulan’, which dates from the 6th century and tells the fictional story of a woman who disguises herself as a man to replace her ageing father in the Imperial army. Its a rather refreshing take on the legend, with hand-drawn visuals inspired by Chinese art and locations (among them the …

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The Cyprus Tigers (1990)

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The Cyprus Tigers (1990)

Apart from some diverting stunt work and action scenes – de rigueur for a Phillip Ko flick – this is pretty hideous stuff, and we’re not just talking about the suits. A flop on release, the gags are broad and dodgy, and include two Chinese actors playing crude Japanese roles (Luk Chuen, Robin Shou), a repeated homophobic skit which seems to find the idea of a gay cop hilarious, and Winston Ellis getting the brunt of some awful racial slurring – all very indefensible. And then there is the subject of Conan Lee, who leads the lampooning in his first …

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Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)

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Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)

No doubt encouraged by Patty Jenkins’ female-fronted DC Comics smash, Wonder Woman, and Marvel’s fourth-wall-breaking Deadpool, Margot Robbie revives her klutzy, anarchic turn as Harley Quinn from 2016’s plodding Suicide Squad with renewed verve and vigour – sticking a baseball bat to the patriarchy and narrating her own story in a typically chaotic and meta fashion. She talks directly to the camera, scrambles up the time-line, and, in one particularly strange moment, breaks into a musical number, riffing on Marilyn Monroe. It sounds subversive, although it never fully commits to its own weirdness, eventually settling into a more formulaic superhero …

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Suicide Squad (2016)

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Suicide Squad (2016)

Strangely inert, weightless and tonally abstract comic book caper from DC, attempting its own version of Marvel’s excellent and joyful Guardians of the Galaxy, but this never comes close to replicating that film’s heart, energy or pathos. There are attempts to revive the spirit of Guardians by retrofitting a soundtrack of ironic pop and rock classics, but no amount of Queen or AC/DC can cover over the film’s exposition-heavy dialogue, or its pervasive, washed-out and downbeat tone. There seems to be around three different films going on here – some more interesting than others – and it is constantly fidgeting …

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