At some point or another when most of the world didn’t know or wasn’t paying attention, Malaysian director James Lee’s Kill-Fist was acquired by Cineverse and landed its streaming debut on Midnight Pulp earlier this year. I didn’t learn this until Thursday evening just before I went to bed, and realized it had been six years since I saw the film never knowing if or when it would see the light of day in the States but, here we are.
Fast forward to now and you can also find the film on several VOD platforms including Prime Video, as well as on FAST platform Tubi which I half-expect will be my go-to for a select number of films that haven’t had a decent North American rollout to some degree (looking at you, Plan B). At any rate, it’s a timely affair as well considering the most recent release of Gareth Evans’s Havoc on Netflix which undoubtedly puts its co-star, Singaporean actor and martial artist Sunny Pang back in the spotlight.
Kill-Fist is also one in several collaborations shared over the years between Lee and Pang with some of their earliest being The Collector and Petaling Street Warriors. Pang is joined by Alan Yun and Koe Yeet in the story of three struggling people whose lives collide with the syndication of an illegal underground fighting tournament where winners kill their opponents for cash. The story also comes packaged with heavy hitting drama and a brutal twist that plays out really well by the end.
You’re welcome to read my review from 2019 for the particulars, but if you’re only just discovering Kill-Fist, consider this an invite, and not for nothing either. There’s at least one other film starring Pang that’s getting a U.S. re-release later this summer, and while I won’t name it here, I will say that I reviewed it back in 2022. It’s terrible.
Watch Kill-Fist instead, or take a day and make it a triple feature with Headshot and Havoc or any select others of your choosing.
Head over to JustWatch for the available viewing options.
