SHADOW FIST 3 Review: The Final Chapter Welcomes New Blood For An Old School Kung Fu Showdown
Shadow Fist 3 screens for the 11th Urban Action Showcase & Expo in New York City on November 11.
The last decade-plus of made-for-television martial arts and action is a proven era for those keen on entertainment of a screenfighting variety. Robert Samuels’ efforts to expand on the genre via R4 Films LLC are a generous reminder of this, including the last several years he and his cohorts have spent expanding on Shadow Fist, a concept producing a ubiquitous blend of fantasy, hip-hop and multicultural and multiethnic fruition though kung fu cinema with an old-school sensibility.
Samuels and fellow creatives Robert Jefferson and exec producer Tayari Casel have since reconvened to take the journey of their indie shortfilm saga for one final leg in Shadow Fist 3, making ample use of Tijuana’s locales and resident talents. That includes a cast roster featuring burgeoning actress and Hung Ga specialist Roxalinda Vazquez who last appeared in Samuels’ 2021 collab with filmmaker Nicholas Ortiz, Jugando Con Fuego, and in Samuels’ next thriller, Blackout.
Vazquez plays Sister Moon, joined by Miguel Peralta who plays Brother Lu, as the story chronicles their quest under the desert sun to find a long lost scroll containing secrets to infinite power and immortality. As their journey of introspection and kung fu shapes brings them full circle, they are eventually met with assassins under the employ of Master Deng, played by actor and action veteran Ron Hall (Triple Impact, Bloodsport 2), ensuing a final showdown between good and evil.
Shadow Fist 3 recurs the familiar themes that deal with McGuffins that sit at the axis of such paradigms. It’s a fixture in this film that also spotlights the development toggling between Lu’s eagerness to inherit the legendary scroll, the more disciplined Moon’s efforts to temper his urges, and brisk sequences of Deng demonstrating his powers and declaring his clan’s might.
The remaining bulk of the half-hour action short rests on the laurels of Samuels lending his action design, reteaming with Jugando Con Fuego cohort Angel Brophy of B-Squad Acción to cue in our performers’ fight scenes. Shapes and weapons are on the menu for the action du jour which also features karate adept, Omar Ibarra, along with cameos by Samuels opposite actor and martial artist and fellow R4 Films alum, Raymond Blong. The final duel is a swift showcase of Hall’s continued readiness and ability as a longstanding screenfighter, amply aiding Vazquez’s entry into the arena as a star on the rise.
As Samuels and his company look toward feature film productions in the long haul, it’s worth celebrating their efforts to preserve rich cinematic concepts like Shadow Fist even in web series form. It does leave me wondering about the long haul where we’ll reminisce about the network strides made possible by the teams and individuals responsible for shows like “Wu Assassins,” “Kung Fu,” “Warrior,” “Into The Badlands,” and Disney+ series “American Born Chinese.” I look at shows like these and pine over other concepts in their nascency like Thousand Pounds/Epic Rival’s Clandestine and Jose Manuel’s Boríken and what we’re seeing of late with Halvon Corp’s Throne: The Liforian Odyssey, ideas that often fuel my curiousity to see what’s possible out there in my tastes as a viewer.
While a concept like Shadow Fist may well be left reserved to its webisodic place on YouTube, I optimistically assert the potential of projects like these, as well as its participants. I look forward to seeing what more Samuels and R4 have in store for martial arts fans with the promise of hopeful increased budgeting, production backing and scaling, and for that matter, more of Vazquez in action as she becomes more prolific in time on screen.
