LION FIST Review: Mathis Landwehr Fights For Family In Taim M. Adams’s Lukewarm ‘Old-School’ Martial Arts Actioner
Lion Fist releases on Digital, and on 4K UHD + Blu-Ray from MPI Home Video on September 15. Available now at Amazon.
German martial arts action has been on my radar since 2005. That’s about the time actor and martial artist Mathis Landwehr surfaced with the release of Kampfansage: Der Letzte Schüler. I love that film, and genuinely enjoy seeing the genre fandom among the locals brim with excitement. This was obvious with the release of Ross Clarkson’s 2024 thriller, The Last Kumite, the first of now two titles from independent producer Sean David Lowe who steered that film’s crowdfunding campaign, in an effort to create a bolstering genre piece for fans of old-school martial arts action.
I’m still not quite sure how well it bodes for others apart from where I stand, and you can read my thoughts on it here for good measure. To sum, there were areas in the film’s main cut delivery that could have used some improvements, whereas Lowe’s latest production effort, Lion Fist, stands on slightly sturdier ground as a serious action flick than escapist fanservice. The film is directed by Taim M. Adams from a script storied and written by Lowe, accompanied by none other than Keith W. Strandberg, whose involvement also brings the film together with several actors from Strandberg’s past films: Kurt McKinney (No Retreat, No Surrender), and Heatseeker cohorts Keith H. Cooke (King Of The Kickboxers), and Gary Daniels (Bloodmoon).
At the forefront of the film’s cast along with Landwehr is actress Julin Täubner, and actor and martial artist Li Yanlong who also appeared in The Last Kumite, and actor, martial artist and bodybuilding internet creator Brice Akuesson in his second film appearance after Nassim Lyes starrer, Bagarre. Additionally, the film also reintroduces actor David “Bolo Jr.” Yeung following his appearance in The Last Kumite, this time in a slightly bigger role, while credited on the film’s action and stunt assembly are Pascal Siffert, and more notably, action choreographer Moeller who worked on Landwehr’s last film in the same capacity.
The film’s plot has all the familiar pieces and motivations to attribute to an underdog protagonist, set in an unnamed American town as we follow Joe (Landwehr), an ex-con fresh out of prison who discovers his estranged son, Wyatt, is dying. Making matters worse is junkie ex-girlfriend Kate (Finja Martens) using the money needed for Eya as a wedge issue between him and Wyatt’s surgery, along with Kate’s new toxic asshole boyfriend Butch, who insists on making Joe’s life more hell than it already is.
Upon befriending a local store clerk named Mei (Täubner), Joe also gets unformally acquainted with her disapproving father, Wu (Li), whom he rescued after staving off would-be muggers from the local MMA gym. Little does Joe know that Wu himself is a martial arts master, possibly imbued with the skills Joe needs to prepare for his biggest challenge yet. Desperate for the money needed to save Wyatt, Joe is taken as Wu’s disciple to help prepare accordingly for the tournament where, in no uncertain terms, Butch, in all his beefed-up bravado, intends to compete.
As Joe’s training continues, he and Mei learn that the same gym is being used as a front for a criminal operation where Butch also does his business. After reaching out to local law enforcement to bring the organization down, it’s a race against clock to deliver justice, as Joe squares off in the biggest fight of his life.
Lion Fist mostly wins in the film’s easy-to-follow storyline, and some of the worthwhile cast performances. The acting across the board is good enough to warrant being compelled to follow and sympathize with Joe during his quest. His romantic underpinning with Mei lends something amiable to the story, along with getting to see Mei hold her own in the film’s action scenes.
Actor Li, who has also appeared in smaller roles in films like Moeller’s One Million K(l)icks and in Timo Rose’s Game Of Death: The Six Doors To Hell, finally gets a character in Wu that he can flesh a little more out of for this particular genre purview. Yeung’s role is a villain on the peripherals, mainly anchoring Wu’s own backstory, staying the course until their full-circle moment arises in the second half. Akuesson’s central antagonist in Butch is a modest improvement from The Last Kumite, as far as casting choices for beefed-up villains who look like easy contender for Sagat cosplay or the next Boyka counterbalance for an Undisputed flick go.
Co-stars McKinney and Daniels add to the film’s niche marketability as the detectives charged by Joe and Mei to look into the corrupt MMA school, as does actor and China O’Brien and King Of The Kickboxers actor Cooke in the role of Joe’s former inmate, Smoke; Landwehr and Cooke proffer an enjoyable team-up in this affair, with the latter presenting a few noteworthy highlights of his own. More engaged martial arts film fans and netizens will also be delighted to spot actor and martial artist Eskindir Tesfay in a cameo appearance later in the film; Tesfay and Landwehr last took on sci-fi together in Shawn Bu’s “Star Wars: Apprentice” short, led by Ben Schamma in his best Darth Maul yet – just something I thought I’d point out in giving props to the German action talent pool in its networking.
The film’s score by 80s action movie synth staple, Paul Hertzog and fellow composer Patrick Gill (Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist) is less prevalent here than on Landwehr’s predecessor. Viewers don’t get the earful in needle drops they got in The Last Kumite, but it’s ample enough to meet the needs of the story.
At 90 minutes, Lion Fist is lean and palatable enough to the eye, with snackable and energetic fight sequences that are relatively short and to the point with little exhaust. A few of these scenes midway into the film feel a little more shoehorned than preferred. At the least, Moeller’s choreography and assembly are still solid and continue to serve Landwehr well these days.
Adams crafts a feasible actioner in Lion Fist, avoiding some of the excesses in its aesthetic nods. Still, enduring some of its own inexorable shortfalls as an independent work could bring into question whether or not future projects can survive the same aim of lateral fanservice for the No Retreat, No Surrender and Bloodsport crowd. While more discerning viewers may be objective in their screening in this regard, I have no doubt that Adams’s intended audience will surely take to crown Adams’s Lion Fist favorably.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
