Fantastic Fest XXI Review: In KUNG FU DEADLY, Steven He Is The Chosen One
Kung Fu Deadly enjoyed its World Premiere at the 21st edition of Fantastic Fest.
With almost thirty million followers across YouTube and several of his social media platforms, actor Steven He has built a sizeable and worthy audience. Such a crowd is ripe for the taking for a director willing to collaborate, a fact made clear with the involvement of Irish filmmaker Fergal Costello whose latest, Kung Fu Deadly, brings He firmly into the spotlight for his feature debut.
Penned by Paul Markey and Paddy McDonald, Kung Fu Deadly re-ups on classic Hong Kong cinema horror tropes for a story themed centrically on matters of fate and destiny amid a crisis that could devastate mankind. Danny (He O’Bryne) and Frank (Michael Tient) are childhood friends who now self-employ as owners of their own pest control agency. They’re the cheapest in town which makes them the most convenient to hire, and as hard up for money as they are, they’re no one to turn down a job, although limited-to-no funds doesn’t hamper Frank from buying a badass tranquilizer rifle online.
For Danny, it’s also not necessarily a dealbreaker, despite feeling trapped and wanting more out of life, a sentiment conveniently noticed by friend Uncle Ronnie (Steve Wall) who insists on Danny allowing him to sell their offices. Little do Danny and Frank know, however, that their job is about to make way for – pun intended or not – some ‘encounters of the spooky kind,’ when their latest big (and hopeful) payday puts them in the crosshairs of a war between a power-hungry gangster bartering with a reawakened jiangshu looking to reunite with his queen, and the dauntless guardian hunting the jiangshu down.
Kung Fu Deadly gleans excellently for most of the way, with He O’Byrne lending audiences a promising protagonist with untapped martial arts prowess. The film is also keen to build on Danny’s situation with an extra layer of depth and supernatural allure to anchor the film’s slightly more emotive tones.
Co-star Tient brings balance as we follow Danny and Frank on their quest which also compels them to take introspection with themselves. The film also provides some peculiar backstory with the introductions to a few other characters, namely Lian (Gemma Chua-Tran), whose latest task as guardian finds her making her way into down with her own nifty bag of tricks to get the job done.
The cast also invites Max Huang of WB’s Mortal Kombat fame for the role of Marrs, a vape-smoking gangster with his own ideas about what to do with the mysterious coffin he’s just acquired in his possession. You also get a completely unrecognizable Jason Tobin, costumed aptly as jiangshu minion T’ang, and just as well with actress Finola Xie as underworld queen Min Chun.
Kung Fu Deadly serves as an enthusiastic and enthralling play on classic Hong Kong horror comedy genre tropes through an updated lens. Fans of stalwarts like Ricky Lau, Lam Ching-Ying and Sammo Hung will be sure to get a thrill out of Costello’s revival, and with a worthy lead in He O’Byrne whose career progression, in the wake of other YouTube creatives in film of late, couldn’t have come at a better time.
The action is also satisfactory, featuring cast performances coupled with the actors’ relative stunt counterparts, and sequences by coordinator and co-star Lee Huang, and choreographer Kai Fung Rieck. Chua-Tran is especially fun to watch in action, including in one sequence with a cool needle drop. Tient, aside from the occasional oddball moment, gets some licks in as well in the second half, topped off with a few other surprises as the film recapitulates.
Kung Fu Deadly galvanizes plentily for the kind of inspired, original storytelling that has become so pertinent in today’s film chatter. That He O’Byrne stakes himself in an action role for his feature film debut draws even greater appeal, coupled with casting standouts like Chua-Tran and Huang, and actor Tobin whose recent triple-season run as Young Jun in “Warrior” still hits with fans to this day.
Thus, Costello turns in a polished, often upbeat, well-rounded and hearty martial arts horror comedy adventure in Kung Fu Deadly that’s easy on the eyes and feels. He O’Byrne makes his best case yet as a versatile breakout star in the making outside of his online creative purview, and for a jubilant enterprise from Costello packed with feel-good comedy, martial arts action and horror spectacle that gladly won’t leave you in need of a talisman.
Producer
Nicholas Cooper, Patrick McDonald
Director
Fergal Costello
Writer
Patrick McDonald
Executive Producer
Zane O’Donahoo, Chris Dirckze
Director of Photography
Shing-Fung Cheung
Editor
Ahmad Halimi
Cast
Steven He, Michael Tient, Gemma Chua-Tran, Jason Tobin, Max Huang, Ling Cooper Tang
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
