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| Source: Inside Movies.EW |
The Good
1.) Some of the fights scenes are decent which is not surprising since veteran martial arts director Corey Yuen Kwai was responsible for the choreography.
2.) Russell Crowe's character is pretty entertaining.
3.) Some good cameos, chiefly Gordon Liu playing a role similar to what he did in the 36th Chamber movies (well, except the second one).
4.) Its over the top nature provides many laughs.
And...yeah..that's about it.
The Bad
1.) Though I've mentioned the decent choreography too many of the actions scenes focused on shocking the audiences with massive amounts of gore and (CGI!) blood for my taste. While I understand RZA was going for a movie more in the tradition of Chang Cheh films like 5 Venoms or The One-Armed Swordsman movies where the emphasis is on the violent aspects of fighting, I personally prefer classic kung fu films where the accent is on the martial arts movements themselves such as the majority of Lau Kar-Leung's (Liu Chia Liang) movies.
2.) Though passing itself off as a throwback to old school kung fu movies there's actually very little kung fu in the film beyond a few references to stances such as towards the end when Bautista (Brass Man) goes into the Tiger Stance but then doesn't actually do any of its forms.
3.) For a man who purportedly has grown up and loved these movies RZA failed to list Corey Yuen Kwai in the opening credits as the action director...inexcusable. In fairness this may have been something dictated to RZA by his financiers. Still, as important as action directors are to, well, action films (!), they should always get top billing in the credits...opening and closing.
4.) RZA simply doesn't work as a leading action man. He simply has no commanding presence whatsoever. He claims that he trained in Hung Gar for an hour a day for two months in preparation for the film. However, his fighting in the movie is basically Western boxing and NOT any kind of kung fu style.
The Ugly
So as you can see I didn't really care for this film all that much. I have to admit that I did come to this already prejudiced against RZA. I've never cared for any of his commentaries that have been featured on some of the Dragon Dynasty DVDs, especially the one for a favorite of mine The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. I've always been a bit bitter that I had to listen to a RZA commentary for one of my all time favorite films instead of the knowledgeable Bey Logan. RZA comes across to me as someone who, while surely having a love for this genre, doesn't know as much about it as he seems to think he does, something this movie just reinforces. But I do respect what RZA was trying to do. It was a noble effort just not a very well executed one.
Rating: 2.5 of out 5
