Bring Him Back Dead (2022)

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Bring Him Back Dead (2022)

Cliché-ridden DTV drudgery which starts as an almost carbon-copy remake of Reservoir Dogs before moving into Rambo territory. The first act sees a bunch of criminals decamp at a cabin in the woods after a botched bank heist, with one of the group bleeding out, coupled with lots of shouting, swearing, and overacting. The ‘one man army’ second act is actually a lot more sure-footed, with Gary Daniels going rogue and heading into the forest on horseback after drugging the crew and stealing the stash. At almost 60, Daniels can still kick people in the head with great style, even if …

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The Woman King (2022)

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The Woman King (2022)

This film about the Agojie – an all-fighting, all-woman military regiment of the West African Kingdom of Dahomey – is based on some semblance of fact. Although its coming-of-age story about a young underdog hero might carry the faint whiff of Hollywood contrivance, there is great passion in the film’s postmodern storytelling and scenes of violent retribution, which see the Agojie laying waste to European slave traders with wild, gut-busting relish. Although it may lean on a number of predictable plot devices, the screen is littered with landmark moments, and scenes of great power and resonance. The world-building from director Gina Prince-Bythewood (The …

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Violent Night (2022)

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Violent Night (2022)

87North take their winning formula from films like Nobody and Bullet Train – depressed middle-aged man finds new meaning and purpose in life through violence – and apply it to the Santa Claus story, reimagining a drunk, overweight – and divorced? – Kris Kringle in a mad mix of Home Alone meets Die Hard, with added hammer blows to the face. John Wick fight choreographer Jonathan Eusebio delivers the punishing pugilism, with jolly old Saint Nick played by a boozy, cranky, overweight David Harbour (excellent). Santa is recast as an immortal Viking warrior – an origin story we really need to …

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 86: End of Year Show 2022 with Mike Fury – Part Two

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 86: End of Year Show 2022 with Mike Fury – Part Two

The wait is over! We can now finally reveal our favourite fight films of 2022 in Part Two of our annual End of Year Show, featuring the action movie expert and author of Life of Action Vol. I-II, Mike Fury. As is tradition with this show, neither Ben or Mike are aware of what the other person has selected for inclusion in their personal top five list; will there be consensus, or will it end in a bloody fight to the death? Top picks for 2022 include a strong roster of big-budget superhero carnage from the Marvel and D.C. cinematic …

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 85: End of Year Show 2022 with Mike Fury – Part One

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 85: End of Year Show 2022 with Mike Fury – Part One

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… that’s right, the time when we release our special annual two-part End of Year Show, in which we look back over the best and worst that martial arts movies had to offer in 2022. Podcast host Ben Johnson is joined once again by Mike Fury, film expert and author of Life of Action Vol. I-II. In Part One, Ben and Mike discuss the big stories that grabbed the martial arts movie headlines in 2022, play Christmas messages recorded especially for the show by some of the biggest names in martial arts movies – …

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 84: Robert Samuels

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 84: Robert Samuels

“It’s a young man’s game, and it’s my job to usher in a new generation of talent. I think that’s where I can give back most.”

It was a screening of 1972’s Five Fingers of Death (aka King Boxer) that would transform the life of Robert “Bobby” Samuels. At that time, he could not have foreseen that he would go on to become the first African American member of the Hong Kong Stuntman Association, a star of martial arts action cinema, a Hung Gar expert training under kung fu master and actor, Chiu Chi-ling, and a close personal friend of Sammo Hung …

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Profile: Robert Samuels

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Profile: Robert Samuels

Date of birth: 11 August, 1967 (Philadelphia, USA).

Nickname: Bobby.

Occupation: Actor, director, stunt coordinator, stunt performer, action director, second unit director.

Style: Hung Gar kung fu.

Biography: Robert “Bobby” Samuels grew up in West Philadelphia. His parents were married for two years and divorced when Robert was two years old. His father, a banker, moved to New York and worked on Wall Street, and his mother stayed in Philadelphia. It was after watching a screening of King Boxer (1972) in Philadelphia that he first discovered a love for martial arts and movies. He would visit the cinemas on 42nd Street when visiting his father …

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Bullet Train (2022)

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Bullet Train (2022)

Based on a popular Japanese novel, this inert action comedy tries desperately to be quirky and charming, but continually fails to achieve either. Despite its high-speed setting – in which a bunch of assassins find themselves on board Japan’s bullet train in search of a briefcase – the plot is plodding and stodgy, and its starry cast is wasted on comedic beats that don’t land, and irksome characters that you won’t give two hoots about. This seems quite crass and low-grade for an actor of Brad Pitt’s stature, who reunites with his former Fight Club stunt double, David Leitch, now …

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Alienoid (2022)

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Alienoid (2022)

The first part of a time-hopping South Korean sci-fi opus which draws on many familiar elements but is more than equal to the sum of its parts. There are extended CGI-driven alien battles involving spaceships and cities being destroyed which could easily be from the latest Marvel blockbuster. These scenes are interspersed with a period-set, wuxia-tinged costume adventure with high-flying sorcerers, knockabout comedy and martial arts sequences resembling A Chinese Ghost Story and the comedy of Stephen Chow. The time travel stuff, of course, conjures up Back to the Future – but the real glue that binds together this crazily inventive, …

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Carter (2022)

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Carter (2022)

Director Jung Byung-gil takes the frenetic ‘one shot’ approach he developed for the action sequences in 2017’s The Villainess and expands the concept into a full movie. As you can imagine, at over two hours, it is at times a challenging and bewildering watch; a story supposedly told in real-time with little to no breathing space from one mad action sequence to the next. The camera hyperactively moves from macro-level to expansive, high-flying drone footage, to disorientating transitional shots which zoom underneath moving trucks and helicopters, follow falling bodies to the ground, and so on. The action – of which …

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