OPINIONS

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NEZHA CONQUERS THE DRAGON KING Review: Changing Destiny Fantasy Fable

Nezha kills a dragon to save a young lady, provoking the rage of the snake spirit, who vows to kill Nezha and avenge the dragon, setting the world on fire, forcing Nezha to make a big sacrifice in order to save the innocent ones, letting in the hands of the girl he saved from the dragon, the key to save the world, for which she would have to pay an ultimate price. A different and more mature approach of the story, that shows Nezha as a teenager instead of a child, like in previous versions. A fantasy martial arts tale, full of action and romance, in which our hero must deal with the responsibility of having been choosen to learn the path of immortality in a world of mortals. A story that explores the limits of love, and how far, people who has fall into that treacherous trap, are willing […]

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SAMURAI MARATHON Review: A Marathon To Defend A Nation, Turns Into A Race Of Survival Towards A New Era

Mike Garcia

With the threat of American ships off the coast of Japan, the leader of the Samurai clan Annaka, concerned about the invasion of the foreigners, decides to organize a marathon to prepare his men, who after many years of peace are out of shape. However, and due to lack of communication with one of his spies, the shogun believes that the race is about a coup d’état, and sends a group of assassins to finish off the runners. What was originally a race to defend the nation ends up turning into a bloody battle to survive. Based on a novel of the same name written by Akihiro Dobashi, that was inspired by a marathon held annually in Japan, the film explores a time of change in the history of Japan, through characters that hide different motivations to participate in the marathon, without even being aware that this race will be […]

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TO BE THE KILLER Review: Vengeance And Redemption Under A Bloody Rain Of Bullets

Mike Garcia

Good dose of ballistic action with some martial arts, to tell a story of revenge and bloody betrayals, that follows the story of a hitman who is hired by a gangster (played by an old TVB glory like Kent Tong ) who orders him to eliminate a female journalist who is about to expose to the public all his drty deeds. but things get complicated when the girl’s husband, a former bodyguard, who shares a tragic past linked to the hitman, appears to protect her. The conflict reopens wounds from the past that lead to a bloody and tragic outcome, which is resolved under a bloody rain of bullets. Very well shot, with good action sequences, that seek to emulate the epic of the masters of bloodshed, and a very well-constructed story that adds emotion to the most exciting moments in the plot, making the audience get involved in the […]

KNOCKOUT (1989) Review: Junji Sakamoto’s Directorial Debut That Became an Osaka’s Symbol

Mike Garcia

A boxing champion is forced to retire after suffering a brain injury in his last fight. After that, he tries to run a gym and become a coach, but he soon realizes that all he knows to do is box, and with that idea, he begins to prepare his return to the ring, against the opposition of everyone around him. Pugilistic drama starred by the boxer now turned into actor, Hidekazu Akai, a great puncher, who in the eighties began a brilliant career on the ring that was frustrated when he got a brain injury from which he managed to recover but forced him to retire. It was then when he debuted as an actor in this semi autobiographical film, and since then he has had a long career in both film and television. The truth is that his performance in this film was very convincing and perhaps, the fact […]

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WE DIE YOUNG Review: Van Damme… The Old Wasted, Hero Looking For Redemption

Mike Garcia

Following the same path that our beloved Jean Claude Van Damme, has taken in some of his most recent works, he returns to one of those roles of old tired wasted hero, that is caught in the middle of a crossfire, having no other choice than save the day one last time, achieving in the proccess, a personal redemption. A path that most action heroes need to follow when their glory days are long gone. “We Die Young“, tells the story of Lucas, a 14 year old boy involved in a gang, who tries to keep his little brother away from the gang world. When a mysterious Afghanistan war veteran, arrives to the neighborhood, Lucas finds an opportunity to leave the gang world behind, but it won´t be so easy and he will have to face the consequences of his treason. This is not a typical Van Damme movie, but […]

THE BOXING KING (混混拳王) Review: Kickboxing Subgenre Resurfaces In Chinese VOD

Mike Garcia

Kickboxing cinema, is a subgenre, that in the west, beyond Scott Adkins, or the horrendous remakes of Jean Claude Van damme´s Kickboxing, seems already dead and buried, but the vast and wide chinese VOD market, seems to have become a paradise for this type of productions. There are hundreds of them every month, and in most of them, local popular fighters have their appearance, getting their ass kicked but whoever the star of the flick is. In this film from 2017, we have a dimwit, Daniel Larusso style, who finds to his particular sensei Miyagi with tragic past, who finds in the kid an opportunity, to achieve his dreams of youth that never came true. Although this I am telling you, is more an assumption of mine because the development of characters is quite null. The truth is that, this is basically a story of honorable martial artists, who are […]

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NE ZHA: BIRTH OF THE DEMON CHILD Review: Get A Grip Of Destiny And Make It Yours!

Mike Garcia

This past year, this Chinese animated film became in one of the most successful animated films ever made, grossing worldwide more than $725 million. A total success for Chinese cinema and Chinese animation. But letting money aside, the film is a reimagined version of Nezha, a character from Chinese mythology that has appeared in countless different films, videogames and even novels, such as ‘Journey to the west’ where he is the villain of a really funny chapter. The story of this film was loosely based in the novel “Investiture of the Gods” by Xu Zhonglin . The plot revolves around the birth of a kid, Nezha. who has been cursed to born as a demon and die at the age of 3, however, his parents refuse to kill him, and tricked the evil kid making him believe that he is destined to use his powers to be a great demon […]

CLASH Review: Ngo and Nguyen, A ‘Clash’ Of Charismatic Badassery

Mike Garcia

Vietnamese action film from 2009 with all the flavour of the best Hong Kong action cinema, starred by Veronica Ngo and Johnny Nguyen, who also collaborated on the script. This film is an exciting ride, filled with heroic bloodshed and well filmed martial arts sequences, that follows the lead in style that Donnie Yen paved with “Flash Point” (2007) mixing traditional martial arts with grappling in the fight sequences, which makes the fights very original and creative. Years before that she fought all her way through to rescue her kidnapped daughter in 2009 film “Fury“, Veronica Ngo here played another desperate mother who is forced to fight in order to save her kidnapped daughter. Veronica plays a mob enforcer who must complete a series of organized crime jobs for her boss in order to win the release of her kidnapped daughter. She hires a bunch of mercenaries to help her, […]

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BLOODBATH AT PINKY HIGH Review: One Last Ride For The Sukebans

Mike Garcia

Film that recaptures the glory of Japanese film subgenre known as “Pinku violence” or “Pinku eiga“, that lived its heyday in the 70´s. “Bloodbath a Pinku High” is a story full of violence, erotism and evil Sukebans that fights against the corruption of a high school, where an evil director abuses of his authority taking advantage of the students. The talented and beautiful AV star Rika Hoshimi leads the cast, playing Midori, a Sukeban leader who is forced to sacrifice everything to save her friends, having as antagonist to Ranko, an evil and ruthless Sukeban who will stand in her way to embitter her existence, portrayed by an excellent Asami, who steals every scene and every shot with her unique charisma and infinite talent. With all the badassery that Pinku Violence used to offer, this small low-budget film works perfectly as a tribute to that unique and endearing cinema that […]

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RIKIDOZAN Review: An Underrated Biopic Of A Pro-Wrestling Legend

Mike Garcia

Biopic of Rikidozan, the pioneer of pro wrestling in Japan and one of the most important wrestlers in the history of the sport. The film is a sport drama that give us an insight look of the struggles that Rikidozan had to experience to become a legend. He was born in Korea in 1924, and his real name was Kim Sin-rak. In the 40´s, he changed his name for Mitsuhiro Momota, and moved to Japan, pursuing his dream to become Sumo Wrestler, however, when his dream couldn´t come true, he didn´t give up and found a new dream, and that dream was the one that turned him into Rikidozan, that dream was Pro Wrestling. This Korean movie from 2004, directed by Song Hae-Sun, deserves more recognition. Somehow it resembles to another similar Korean production, the Mas Oyama biopic, “Fighter in the Wind“, but with a most realistic and dramatic tone. […]

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GO FOR IT Review: A Kick From The East

Mike Garcia

If you long for all those low budget kickboxing movies that were in the shelves of the video stores in the 80’s and the early 90’s, they keep making them in the wide Chinese market almost every week. This film is one of them, a really low budget movie with good fighting sequences shot in a lost warehouse somewhere in the outskirts of some big city in China. Most of the action, takes place inside a MMA cage, where the performers display different types of martial arts that comes from Kung Fu, kickboxing, Muay Thai, even including some grappling. However, the final fight changes its location, taking place outdoors, in a boxing ring, in what it seems to be the swimming pool of a hotel. The story is basically about two guys fighting for the love of the same girl. An arrogant prick, and a weak guy who needs to […]

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THE RETURN OF KESAI Review: A Hero From The Past To Save The Future

Mike Garcia

A chinese Tokusatsu film that pays homage to a classic tokusatsu from the 70´s, “Dinosaur Sentai Koseidon”, an endearing TV show, that was really popular in China back in the day, in which our protagonists traveled through time to prehistory, coexisting with dinosaurs, and fighting different kind of villains. A typical japanese tokusatsu show from that era, full of models and precarious special effects but with so much charming. The plot of the film takes place in a distant hopeless future, in which a lethal virus (Cinema again resembling to real world) has turned mankind into zombies, in that moment of crisis in which nobody remembers cinema or TV shows, a hero from the past is our only hope. Taking advantage of the zombies revival that we are living recently in cinema and television, the director John Moo (don´t confuse with John Woo) delivers a thrilling action film, in which […]

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A SHOT OF VIOLENCE: HONG KONG STYLE Shortfilm Review: A Violent Journey To A Nostalgic Alternate Universe

Mike Garcia

A trip through Chinatown underground where an honest cop nicknamed Tequila and named Nick Diaz, finds himself involved in a spiral of violence and corruption where he has no choice than fighting the triads by himself. This Spanish short film directed by Angel García, pays homage to all that classic action Hong Kong cinema that today seems to be fading away but remains in the heart and the memory of fans around the world. A violent journey that keeps a dirty and tense atmosphere throughout the whole film, where we can feel the despair and anger of the main character, who guide us through different scenarios full of easter eggs and references that comes from an alternate universe, where posters of classic action films have the title of popular mangas and the excellent soundtrack of John Woo´s classic, “A Better Tomorrow“, appears constantly, from the whistle of a character, to […]

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UNDERDOG KIDS Review: ‘Best Of The Best’ – Kids Edition!

Mike Garcia

It took almost 20 years to Phillip Rhee to return to cinema, and he did it directing, starring and even writing the script of this low budget Karate Kid exploitation, that brings back the uplifting spirit of the first “Best of the Best”, turning the same formula into a movie mostly oriented for kids. Here, we have a bunch of no good for nothing kids that trains martial arts in a community center, that with the help of “Phillip Rhee” as new coach, will find the way to overcome themselves. There’s also a cheap version of the “Cobra Kais”, called “The Scorpions” (nothing to do with the legendary rock band) that play their part as bad guys of the story, but their presence is not that important to the plot, which is focused in the development of the kids in order to get better through the practice of martial arts, […]

THE EMPTY HANDS Review: A Journey Of Self-Discovery Through Martial Arts

Mike Garcia

Although karate is the central theme of the plot, this movie is not a typical martial arts movie, and although there is some fighting scenes, the drama prevails over the action. The story focuses on the relationship of love and hate that Mari (our protagonist) maintains with her father (the great Yasuaki Kurata) and the art that he taught her since childhood, karate. At one point of the story, she will face the dilemma of continuing with her father´s legacy or following the path of what she considers her freedom. Chapman To, who in addition to directing, also reserved himself a role as an actor, playing one of the key characters in the plot. seems to want to get out of the established canons and do something different within the already so exploited martial arts genre. It has intellectual inflows, although that, it does not become pedantic, and all that […]

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ULTIMATE ROUND Review: A Blast Of MMA Cinema

Mike Garcia

In the 80´s American B cinema, there was a tendency to turn true martial arts champions into movie stars, an operation that sometimes worked out well, but which in most cases ended in disaster, many times due to the lack of budget, and the incompetence of untalented action directors and others, the majority, because being a good fighter in the Ring, does not automatically make you a good screen fighter. This modest Chinese production of 2017, tries to emulate this same formula, putting two fighters as protagonists in a perfect vehicle for them to showcase their skills. The truth is that if this film had been made in America in the 80s, it is likely that today it would be appreciated by fans and even considered by some as a cult classic of this type of movies, because although that lacks of a good villain, and needed more footage to […]

IP MAN AND THE FOUR KINGS Review: Another Chapter Of The “Ip Manverse”

Mike Garcia

This film is one of those many exploitations that are trying to cash in the success of the Wilson Yip´s movie, however, this movie seems to be most influenced by Wong Kar Wai‘s approach to the character in ‘Grandmasters’ than in the Donnie Yen’s adventures. Specially visually, in which some scenes are trying to recreate the majestic visually impact of that movie, but obviously coming really short in the comparison. In this new adventure, Ip Man must face a trafficking human ring, but also clear his name after have been wrongly accused of murder and avenge the death of a student. Michael Tong stars the film, portarying an Ip Man, that has the looks of Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, with the white hat included, and the fighting style of Donnie yen. Is a mix of both but with an own flavour. Though its lack of […]

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BURNOUT NEO Review: Asami’s Badassery At Its Finest Expression

Mike Garcia

Revisiting Asami´s filmography, I came to the conclusion that Burnout Neo, must be one of her finest works, at least in terms of martial action, but also might be one of the most unknown and unfairly forgotten, which means that despairly needs to be reivindicated. Produced by Zen Pictures, A movie company that produces every kind of different genres, from tokusatsus for kids and adults, to simply AV or action features like this one.We have a perfect action vehicle for Asami and Ayaka tanigaki, who teamed up as action heroines, playing, Misa and Lynn, two special agents from a special police unit known as “Garuda”, who has been assigned the risky mission to protect an important scientist, that has developed a an unique formula to develop a new source of energy, and who has been targeted by a dangerous group of North Korean spies. A simple and plain plot that […]

ASSASSIN LEGEND (2018): Epic Bloody Revenge Swordplay Chinese Style

Mike Garcia

At the end of the Warring States period, seven states fought for dominance. The nobles from each state sent brave warriors to duel in the Tiger Arena to resolve various disputes. The warrior from Wei was the minister of war and gained his reputation for defending his country against invaders. However, after he is framed and the country falls in ruin, he picks up with weapons and armor to fight again. Have you ever wondered what happened with with that badass little kid that kicked ass playing Jet Li´s son in Corey Yuen´s action flick, “My Father is a hero”? (1995) Well, his name is Miu Tse, and he´s a grown up now that has become by his own right in an action star in the vast and wide chinese market where he has starred in more than 30 films until the date. Assasin Legend is a thrilling tale of […]

KUNOICHI HUNTERS (2014) – A Slice Of Love And Death By Asami

Mike Garcia

A female ninja assassin is assigned the mission to assesinate a feudal lord and steal an important scroll from him. After having successfully accomplished her mission, she becomes the prey in a suicidal escape in which she only longs with finding a lost love from the past. Kunoichi Hunters is a low budget ninja exploitation directed and written by Hidemi Noto,that displays a really intriguing and twisted plot, with a script that plays with the narrative structure that Kurosawa made popular in “Rashomon” (1950), telling a story from different points of view, adding some really well made sword fighting sequences, where Asami shines as screen fighter, and a torrid lesbian romance full of erotism that lead us to the conclusion that love can be the road to all kind of perdition. Asami becomes in some kind of female version of Kamui (anyone remember that wonderful anime from 1969?), showcasing an […]