Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Despite the fact Kill Bill was originally devised as one complete film, there are still distinctive differences between the two parts of Quentin Tarantino’s kung fu/Samurai opus. If Vol. 1 was the eastern, Vol. 2 is the western. Dusty, desert locales fuse with more trademark Tarantino dialogue and pop culture references as the full story of the ‘Bride’ (Thurman) is unveiled. The remaining victims scrawled on the Bride’s Deadly Viper Death List awaiting execution include retired hick Budd (Madsen) and Samurai executioner Elle (Hannah), not to mention the man behind it all, the titular Bill (a great turn from Carradine). …

Read More

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

The initial reaction to Kill Bill was harsh. Tarantino’s fourth film after a six year hiatus was bound to face scrutiny, especially one which shows such an extravagant disregard for what many of his fans were expecting. Kill Bill is a strange hybrid of gangster film, black comedy, Samurai-slasher and kung fu revenge – a big, bloody epic spread over two volumes. The Times labelled it a “geek’s wet dream” proclaiming it to be his most “adolescent” film.

True, much of the film’s content has been lifted from hours spent in grindhouse theatres with obvious references to Game of Death, Lone …

Read More

The Little Dragons (1979)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
The Little Dragons (1979)

Light family film which hits the snooze button quite early on in terms of action and suspense, with the only real excitement arriving 10 minutes from the end. The central slapstick premise of a group of prepubescent karate kids on a rescue mission predates the 3 Ninjas films by some considerable margin, although this film is Ritalin by comparison. The strengths rest in a few good gags and a woozy, knockabout abandon which suits the film well. Veteran character actor Charles Lane plays the detached but doting grandfather to foulmouthed karate kids Woody and Zac (played by real-life brothers Chris …

Read More

Battle Creek Brawl (1980)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Battle Creek Brawl (1980)

Following the huge success of The Young Master, Raymond Chow repackages a young Jackie Chan for the American market with this slaphappy concoction which dangerously backfires. The film bombed horribly, despite the best efforts of the team behind Enter the Dragon (director Clouse, producer Weintraub and a music score from Lalo Schifrin). The reasons are plain to see: Chan is straitjacketed by the restrictions of western fight choreography, and although the comic set-pieces are delivered with reasonable panache, the execution is jagged. A diabolical story doesn’t help. Set in 1930s Texas, Chan plays flamboyant immigrant Jerry Kwan, part Bruce Lee …

Read More

Hapkido (1972)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Hapkido (1972)

A seminal kung fu movie moment, not just for the financial prospects of Raymond Chow’s fledgling Golden Harvest but also thematically. Although Angela Mao may have been following the precedence set by King Hu’s wuxia heroines (Cheng Pei-pei, Polly Shang Kwan, Hsu Feng), in hindsight it’s hard not to see the gender politics of Hapkido as something of a trailblazer. She plays a female Bruce Lee in essentially a rehash of Fist of Fury. Most of the cast return in strangely similar roles and some scenes are almost identical: Paul Wei’s offering of an insulting sign; a finale pitting empty-handed Chinese …

Read More

Universal Soldier: The Return (1999)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Universal Soldier: The Return (1999)

Van Damme revisits the scene of his most popular picture in a last chance attempt to rekindle the same magic. This would prove to be his last theatrical release for a number of years, and the result is disappointing: cheap, clichéd and, although action packed, void of any genuine excitement. The patchwork story moves at breakneck speeds for short attention spans. Regenerated cyborg hero Luc returns in the even-more-distant future as the head of a Unisol plantation monitored by a master computer. Acquiring human form, S.E.T.H. (White) is a superior intellect and mighty fighter with intentions on world domination. But …

Read More

Desert Heat (1999)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Desert Heat (1999)

Avildsen’s loose remake of Yojimbo is a tame B movie with an abundance of charm; an ideal slice of sex and violence before bedtime. A dusty tale of revenge set in the scorching desert heat of the mid-west, Van Damme plays the survivor of a mugging which forces him to seek refuge in a secluded town, causing tension among the locals. All too quickly, our traveling cowboy finds himself at the epicentre of a violent feud between two rival families whose reign of terror over the sleepy hollow is about to come to an abrupt, high-kicking end. Bravo.

AKA: Coyote Moon; …

Read More

Double Team (1997)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Double Team (1997)

Tsui Hark’s Hollywood debut is an action adventure besieged by the usual MTV exploits of fast editing, snappy dialogue and hyper-violence, not forgetting obligatory product placement (the heroes escape a landmine explosion by creeping behind a Coca-Cola vending machine). But even with all of its B movie failings, there is still a great deal of fun and excitement to be found.

The story lifts from The Prisoner to James Bond to Hark’s beloved comic books following special agent Jack Quinn (Van Damme) on his quest to bring down top terrorist Stavros (Rourke). When a ploy to capture Stavros goes tragically wrong, …

Read More

The Quest (1996)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
The Quest (1996)

The thought of Van Damme directing his own picture would be enough to make most viewers run to the hills. There is no escaping the fact this is ultimately a vanity project, but The Quest is still a fantastic martial arts adventure, one which heralds back to the star’s best films Bloodsport and Kickboxer only with more of an expensive, epic touch. This is an exotic period film littered with surprisingly vivid imagery and smart location shots which take full advantage of the Tibetan scenery, and the rousing Randy Edelman soundtrack offers a glossy shine to proceedings.

We’re taken back to …

Read More

Knock Off (1998)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Knock Off (1998)

Set in Hong Kong during the 1997 hand over, this less than satisfactory thriller sees fashion designer Van Damme and the CIA trying to bust a counterfeit jeans operation involving local mobsters and some Russian heavies. Miniature explosives the size of a watch battery are being disguised within the goods, so let’s hope our crack team of western superpowers can save the world, and themselves, from total disaster.

They won’t be able to save the film, however, which is long dead by the time the stupid story kicks in. Given all its rapid editing and experimental camerawork, one would expect more from a …

Read More
« Previous Page
Next Page »