martial arts

Revisiting AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER
Revisiting AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER

Though initially marketed to a younger audience, Avatar: The Last Airbender offered important and incisive messages to all of its viewers.

IP MAN 4 THE FINALE: A Lackluster End To A Once Great Franchise
IP MAN 4 THE FINALE: A Lackluster End To A Once Great Franchise

Sadly, it’s hard to call this final chapter of the Ip Man saga a successful piece of filmmaking.

TRIPLE THREAT: An Enjoyable, If Slight, Flurry Of Martial Arts Mayhem
TRIPLE THREAT: An Enjoyable, If Slight, Flurry Of Martial Arts Mayhem

Though with a generic plot, Triple Threat is a slick, entertaining feature that works best as a showcase for the talents of its three leads.

FURIE: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned

Furie has severe pacing issues, but is saved due to the exhilarating showcase of Vernoica Ngo’s talents as an action star.

Yoshi Sudarso Interview: Playing an Asian American Cowboy and Positive Change in Hollywood
Interview With Yoshi Sudarso: Playing An Asian American Cowboy & Positive Change In Hollywood

Film Inquiry’s Samantha Celentano talked to Yoshi Sudarso about Buffalo Boys, and the rarity of seeing Asian-American cowboys on the big screen.

BUFFALO BOYS: The Western Meets the Far East, With Mixed Results

With Buffalo Boys, Wiluan succeeds in his mission of taking an important piece of his people’s history and rendering it into an entertaining film with international appeal.

THE NIGHT COMES FOR US: An Action Movie Classic Is Born
THE NIGHT COMES FOR US: An Action Movie Classic Is Born

If you’re a fan or a newbie or just someone looking for a bloodbath of an action movie, move The Night Comes for Us to the very, very top of your list.

SIDEKICKS: Chuck Norris’ Exercise In Vanity

Unfortunately, 1992’s Sidekicks, which is a vehicle to show Chuck Norris as the greatest action star, is a sloppy project for his talents.

THE FOREIGNER: A Dark & Offbeat Vehicle For Superstar Jackie Chan
THE FOREIGNER: A Dark & Offbeat Vehicle For Superstar Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan is in peak form in The Foreigner, and handily wins you over despite the film’s dated source material.

CALL OF HEROES: Old School Story, New School Style
CALL OF HEROES: Old School Story, New School Style

Call of Heroes is the latest from Benny Chan, and manages to both modernize and feel old-fashioned when compared to the martial arts genre.

HEADSHOT: The Unofficial THE RAID Sequel We All Want
HEADSHOT: The Unofficial THE RAID Sequel We All Want

Headshot is a bit too melodramatic and tries to emulate The Raid sequels too blatantly, yet it is just enough to satisfy action junkies.

BRUTAL: An Excessive Exercise In Diminished Rewards
BRUTAL: An Excessive Exercise In Diminished Rewards

Brutal is an unentertaining slog to get through from start to finish, and it should have been abandoned on the very first day of shooting.

SKIPTRACE: Jackie’s Finest Hour
SKIPTRACE: Jackie Chan’s Finest Hour

Skiptrace (originally titled Jue Di Tao Wang) is a 2016 action-comedy film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Jackie Chan, Johnny Knoxville and Chinese actress Fan Bingbing. It is about a Hong Kong cop and an avid gambler that must team together, each for their own reasons, and take down the Chinese crime syndicate and its mysterious leader ‘The Matador’. It is a film that I, in all honesty, did not want to sit down and watch at first but did, due to unmentionable circumstances, and in my forced viewing of this easy-going and lighthearted film, I began to remember why Jackie Chan is one of the most beloved names in Hollywood.

A TOUCH OF ZEN: Cosmic Beauty In Discipline
A TOUCH OF ZEN: Cosmic Beauty In Discipline

The new Criterion Collection release of A Touch of Zen includes director King Hu’s own notes on the film. In these notes, Hu discusses a conversation he had with a Zen Buddhist who told him that Zen must be understood not through verbal explanation, but through an enlightening experience. Despite his renown as a director of wuxia films, Hu was neither a Buddhist nor a martial artist; but, he believed that capturing an experience of Zen would make for a strong film.

The Secret History of North Korean Martial Arts Cinema
The Secret History of North Korean Martial Arts Cinema

The words “North Korean cinema” have traditionally invoked images of staid, humourless propaganda movies each more concerned with exalting the virtues of the nation’s glorious leaders than sculpting cohesive narratives. For those who have looked into the films emanating from the secretive Asian country it is possible to conclude that, in some instances, this description is rather unnervingly accurate. Many of these stereotypes exist for a reason.