This
review is based on the unrated version of the film.
SPOILERS
AHEAD
The
Man with the Iron Fists had its
moments, but I don’t think it did nearly enough with its resources.
I wasn’t a fan, so my hopes weren’t high when its lower-budgeted
sequel was released.
As
a matter of fact, I didn’t bother checking it out at all. However,
having finally
seen it now, I realize it
wasn’t necessary for me to avoid
it. The Man with
the Iron Fists 2 is bereft
of most features
that defined its predecessor – a supergroup cast, the
wuxia influence, and a
general over-the-top style
– but this is actually what
makes it for me. More sober-minded and focused
on its characters,
this is a surprisingly worthwhile
adventure and
definitely the best action feature I’ve yet seen from director Roel
Reine.
The
story: En route to Wu Chi Temple to cleanse his soul, the blacksmith
Thaddeus (RZA) is embroiled in a
treacherous conflict
between a small mining village and the oppressive Beetle Clan.
The
most obvious way the film deviates from the original is the lack of
major names. With the
exception of the lead star, no one here’s been anywhere near top
billing for a major release in years. Nevertheless,
this one’s cast isn’t without cult charm, and they’re
all clearly acting their
butts off. Dustin Nguyen is the real star as the de facto leader of
the village, and Carl
Ng makes a surprisingly strong impression as the despicable villain.
Cary Tagawa is solid as the
wheelchair-driving mayor, while Eugenia Na does good work as an
archer and Nguyen’s onscreen wife. Action hero-in-the-making
Charlie Ruedpokanon enjoys the best role of his young career as
Nguyen’s brother, while action regulars Kazu Tang and Ocean Hou are
memorable enforcers.
Grace Huang and Andrew Lin reprise their roles as the Gemini Twins
for a flashback scene. RZA easily
slips back into his character
but reduces
his impact by not having much
to do with the first half of the movie.
While this
cast ultimately appeals
less to people used to
theatrical fare, I
love how the lack of name
emphasis requires the actors to focus on their characters all the
more. No award-winning
performances, but there are
some good exchanges that
elevate the otherwise humdrum plot.
Aesthetically,
I declare the film a complete triumph. Director/DP
Reine and production designer Lek
Chaiyan (Anna and the King)
create
an absolutely beautiful flick composed of exotic
on-location shots and
intricate costumes. At the
risk of comparing the film to its predecessor too often,
this one eschews the
original’s lavish style
and focuses on a more
realistic and detailed look, smoothly incorporates the local
countryside
for a sense of scope.
This organic style carries
over to the action content, which is considerably scaled back from
the predecessor’s wirework bonanza. The fighting is almost entirely
grounded and less reliant on special effects, and
this works well for the performers and the Thai stunt crew. Of
course, the results aren’t
perfect: over-editing works its way into more and more of the brawls,
and the mass battle scenes are one thing that the original film did
better. I was excited when Cary Tagawa unexpectedly became
a combatant in the 11th
hour, but he’s stunt doubled to within an inch of his life.
Nevertheless, we get some
good matches in the Charlie Ruedpokanon/Ocean Hou and Dustin
Nguyen/Carl Ng encounters, so
the adrenaline department
gets an overall passing grade.
I’m
disappointed that the animal motifs are downplayed this time: RZA
mentions in the DVD’s special features that he sought to explore
insect themes, and while we get the Beetle Clan, everything else is
downplayed to the point that appears
incidental. (E.g. the miners as ants.) The overabundance
of gore ensures that executive producer Eli Roth got to eat for
another day, but the over-the-top violence isn’t very creative.
Again, die-hards of the
original won’t be happy about
these things, but
I find the faults forgivable.
With fewer resources at its
disposal, the sequel finds a harmonious balance much easier than its
richer
predecessor. It’s still a take-it-or-leave-it feature for casual
viewers, but it’s hard to
deny the effort and skill
that went into this. The Man with the Iron Fists 2
is utterly watchable on its
own merits, and if you’re like me and enjoy seeing small
productions succeed against all expectations, you’ll definitely
have fun. Rent it.
The
Man with the Iron Fists 2
(2015) Directed
by
Roel Reine (Hard
Target 2) Written
by
RZA, John Jarrell (Romeo
Must Die) Starring
RZA, Dustin Nguyen (Once
Upon a Time in Vietnam),
Carl
Ng (Point
of Entry),
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Cool
costars:
Grace Huang, Andrew Lin, Charlie Ruedpokanon (Ninja:
Shadow of a Tear),
Ocean Hou (The
Blood Bond),
Kazu Patrick Tang (Dragonwolf),
Eugenia Yuan (Jasmine).
Seigi Ozeki, who seems to have dropped from the leading man spectrum
following Muay
Thai Warriors, plays a vengeful member of the Lion Clan. Sahajak
Boonthanakit (Zero
Tolerance)
is one of Thailand’s rising dramatic stars and plays one of the
featured minors. Simon Yin (Birth
of the Dragon)
is likewise memorable. Content
warning:
Extreme
violence, group violence, lynching, childbirth, racist
dialogue Copyright Universal
Pictures Home Entertainment
It’s a shame that
the phenomenon of supergroup casting has grown old long before all of
its possibilities have been exhausted. The sad reality of filmmakers
regularly not making the most of all the names they can get under one
title is evident in Mark Dacascos’ freshman effort as a director,
which further depresses me by not making a strong case for
yesterday’s action heroes becoming filmmakers. Possibly the
greatest coming together of stars since the original Expendables films, Showdown in Manila nevertheless
feels like a forgettable
action-thriller featuring a bunch of nobodies.
The
story: Private investigators Nick Peyton (Alexander Nevsky) and
Charlie Benz (Casper Van Dien) track an assassination to an
international terrorist group. Eventually, they call in some comrades
to help capture its deadly leader (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa).
How
good the
movie is depends largely on
how well its big-name stars are utilized. Here’s my take on ‘em:
Alexander
Nevsky – This
huge bodybuilder seems to be more of a star in Russia than North
America,
and thus I question having
him lead
a movie filled
with more recognizable action guys.
Judged on his merits, he’s not terrible
–
he makes more of his physical
size
than Dolph Lundgren and does well enough in
action scenes –
but
he’s in
desperate
need of charisma. For all his good looks, Nevsky remains a virtual
stranger to me even after the credits
rolled.
I
wouldn’t mind seeing him improve, but I don’t predict many U.S.
producers will line
up to put him in another starring role.
Casper
Van Dien –
As probably the cheapest ex-
A-lister on the market right now, it doesn’t
surprise me
that
ol’ Casper’s present,
but it
sure irritates
me.
He’s
playing yet another womanizing jerk, albeit with more chagrin and
humility
than expected.
It
breaks my heart to admit it,
but
he’s
actually one of the best things about th4
film. He’s not the only cast member with genuine charisma and
acting ability, but he is
the one with the most scenes. For
better or worse, he keeps the film from sinking until the other big
names show up.
Cary-Hiroyuki
Tagawa – One
of the genre’s quintessential villain actors is well-placed
as the
bad guy, but he’s the first cast
member whose
presence is over-hyped. The number of scenes he’s in can be counted
on one hand, and while you can count on his considerable screen
presence whenever he’s on camera, he barely gets in on any of the
action. Also, for what could’ve
been a monumental B-movie, his character’s pretty weak and
comes to kind of a disappointing end.
Tia
Carrere – As
Carrere hasn’t
had much to do as an action hero since Relic
Hunter,
I
wasn’t expecting much of her and thus was delighted when she
briefly partakes in a quick fight scene! Honestly, though, there’s
no reason to get excited. Despite
being an important character, she
largely drops out of the film after the early scenes and is wasted as
a draw.
Mark
Dacascos –
Already
taking on the role of
director, it may have been wiser
for Mark to remain behind the camera entirely
and
not tease us with an early appearance. He has a single scene, and
while he manages to fit a brawl
in there, I
can’t help but miss him throughout the remaining runtime. His
character is the linchpin of the story but I would’ve preferred a
lesser-known actor in the role, as I wouldn’t have spent the rest
of the movie thinking about how much better it would
be if he were
still in it.
Matthias
Hues –
Hues
plays pretty much the same blonde enforcer he
always
has
but with a lot less screen time. Ironically, he has more lines in his
handful of scenes than he’s had in entire
vehicles.
He’s also in
the
only
dream match-up this film offers,
as he engages Casper Van Dien in a short and one-sided fistfight.
Afterwards,
Nevsky
takes him out with one punch.
Don
Wilson, Cythnia Rothrock, and Olivier Gruner –
I list these three as a unit because they arrive and leave the film
at the same time and share the same scenes. They comprise the group
that Nevsky calls in to storm Tagawa’s base (along with Dmitriy
Dyuzhev, an
acclaimed Russian actor who’s nevertheless unknown in the west) and
bring with them the majority of the action content. It’s what I’ve
come for, but the characters
feel tacked-on, as
though
they’re
indulging
a last-minute favor from Dacascos to appear in his movie. While
their segments remain the best in the picture, they
aren’t in
top form:
Gruner’s acting is somehow worse than usual, and weapons
specialist
Cynthia Rothrock inexplicably
looks like a complete amateur when handling a pair of batons.
With the utilization of this ultimate gathering of B-movie dragons
falling way short of hopes, do any other parts of the movie stack up?
Well, I’ve seen worse first-time directors than Dacascos, who
proves he can at least craft a professional-looking feature. The
problem is that his run-of-the-mill style works against a picture
whose adrenaline spikes never reach higher than “meh.” I would’ve
been more entertained by a big disasterpiece with an unpredictable
storyline and actors imploding under crazy direction. As is, Showdown
in Manila and its paint-by-the-numbers plot have nothing wrong
with them other than the disappointment they generate. I’d rather
have seen director Dacascos drop all his plates in spectacular
fashion than realize that, even with all he had going for him, the
best he could do was something I’ll have forgotten about in a week.
With literally nothing going for it other than the opportunity of
seeing some of its stars in the same action scene, I can’t
recommend this film with any kind of enthusiasm. As always, fans of
the stars might want to pick it up to complete their libraries, but
everyone else can treat it mildly.
Showdown in
Manila
(2016) Directed
by
Mark Dacascos Written
by
Craig Hamann (Boogie
Boy),
Alexander Nevsky (story), Mark Dacascos (story) Starring
Alexander Nevsky (Moscow
Heat),
Casper Van Dien (Starship
Troopers),
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mortal
Kombat),
Tia Carrere Cool
costars:
Mark Dacascos, Matthias Hues (No
Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder),
Don Wilson (Bloodfist
series), Cynthia Rothrock (China
O’Brien series),
Olivier Gruner (Angel
Town),
Dmitriy Dyuzhev (The
Island).
World champion martial artist Emanuel Bettencourt (Kebab
Connection)
plays one of the lead villain’s bodyguards, as does Filipino action
star and Olympic taekwondoka Monsour Del Rosario (Bloodfist
II).
There’s
also a surprising amount of critically-acclaimed
Filipino stars in various supporting roles, including Iza Calzado
(Bliss),
Mon Confiado (Heneral
Luna),
and Jake Macapagal (Metro
Manila). Content
warning:
Human trafficking, violence towards women Copyright
Hollywood Storm / ITN Distribution
Before director
Isaac Florentine limited himself to vehicles for Scott Adkins, he
made movies with every action hero he could, and before the turn of
the century, Dolph Lundgren was his biggest draw yet. Lundgren, fresh
from a disappointing experience on Sweepers
(1998), was pleased to work with someone seasoned
in the action genre. The
production was looking
promising, but then got kinda
weird. Due to serious script
revamping, what might’ve been a
solid war film turned into a
bewildering
sci-fi adventure. Bridge of Dragons is
an entertaining romp but it’s
difficult to love,
thanks in part to
poor utilization of its
cast and characters.
The
story: On a mission to
capture
a princess (Valerie Chow) for the
warmongering General
Ruechang (Cary-Hiroyuki
Tagawa), the
mercenary Warchild (Lundgren)
uncovers a plot by his master to take over the kingdom.
The
most noteworthy aspects of the film are its setting and hodge-podge
aesthetic. Imagine: a
feudalistic society, uniforms
and weaponry spanning the last 70 years, martial arts, horse-drawn
carriages, Eastern chanting on the soundtrack, and
Cary Tagawa seemingly
wearing a Michael Jackson
outfit.
This is a world that feels
very much thrown-together – an environment crafted by an
indiscriminate prop department – but somehow,
it
still
engages
me.
Art director Valentina
Mladenova has a knack for turning trash into functional
onscreen societies, and while
the film isn’t her most striking work, it’s something I haven’t
seen the likes
of before. Disappointingly, the story
that plays out within this place
is bland.
I’m disappointed by how little the screenplay does with its
characters: I’d have loved exploring
the shifting relationship
between Warchild
and the man who raised and
commands him,
or incorporating a
tricky
dynamic
between Princess Halo and the men who want to control her
while still needing to defer
to her out of protocol. As
is, it’s a tired screenplay
filled with boring characters, only occasionally elevated when the
odd performer brightens the
show thru
force of personality – see
Jo Kendall as Halo’s nurse.
Of
course, any dramatic or
aesthetic triumph at this point in Florentine’s films was pure
gravy. His
acclaim was in making the most action-packed pictures you could find,
and that’s what he does here. The movie’s crammed
with adrenaline scenes, from shootouts to explosions and hand-to-hand
fights. But once again, I’m not satisfied. I was anxious to see
Dolph Lundgren wrangled by
the same director (Florentine) and action choreographer (Akihiro
Noguchi) who’d just
done
the Gary Daniels vehicle Cold Harvest
(1999), but their
results are kinda weak. Lundgren’s one of those actors who’re
generally identified as karate stars but doesn’t really build on
their
reputation, and while I wasn’t expecting him to go
full-on kick crazy, I was
expecting more fighting than this. The high point comes early when
Valerie Chow’s stunt double leads some
stick fights on raised poles, and the final duel between Lundgren and
Tagawa is worth a mention, but there’s sparse little karate between
these events. Lundgren
suffers from a lack of credible opponents, sure, but he just seems
readier to shoot a foe than fight
him otherwise – major
disappointment for
a movie by the guy who’d eventually set the standard for martial
arts flicks.
Part
of this karate dearth has to
do with the poor utilization of Princess Halo, who’s established as
a good fighter early on but spends the rest of the film in repeated
need of rescue. This
would peeve me even if the
movie didn’t need
more fights.
Stripping the character of practically all her autonomy after
establishing her so fiercely
is disingenuous: the filmmakers want to have
her be a passive trophy but at the same time also win points for
having her be a strong female co-lead –
somehow. It’s
boring, sexist, and impoverishes the movie all the more.
Bridge of Dragons
is an overall entertaining trip, but
it’s only worth a rental.
Florentine’s early style, with dialogue as overblown as his sound
effects,
will make some viewers wonder whether this is too much like Power
Rangers for their liking.
Combined with the other
shortcomings, this matches the film’s strengths tit-for-tat, but
it’s just not worth the shelf room unless you’re a particularly
big fan of any of the actors.
Trivia:
The film’s curious
title made sense in the original script. The story
was to end with the protagonists trapped in the middle of a bridge
with two armies bearing down on them from either side. The characters
are killed but die heroically, fighting “like dragons.”
Written
by
Carlton Holder (Extreme
Heist),
Greg Latter (uncredited), Clint Lien (uncredited)
Starring
Dolph Lundgren, Valerie Chow (Lover
of the Last Empress),
Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa (Mortal
Kombat),
Gary Hudson (Martial
Outlaw)
Cool
costars:
Perpetual
onscreen tough guys Scott Schwartz (Ocean’s
Eleven)
and Bashar Rahal (Direct
Contact)
have appropriate roles, as does
Lundgren’s
personal karate
trainer Brian Fitkin. English sketch actor Jo Kendall (Emmerdale)
is pretty
enjoyable in
pure acting role.
Content
warning:
Sexual assault, domestic violence, violence towards women, group
violence, war-related
violence
While
re-watching some of my movies in search of something to review, I
realized how strikingly similar 1994’s Deadly Target and
1996’s White Tiger appear
to be. Both are pretty good
vehicles from Gary Daniels’ solo career, and seemingly
by coincidence, they
have
the same plot. This
realization and
the provisional quality of the films makes
me want to try
something new
and turn this
would-be review into
a competitive
comparison between the two.
Should be fun, right?
Know
now that this article’s
almost exclusively for the Gary Daniels fans out there. Few
casual viewers will have seen both features, but hey, we’re all
about niches here at B-Movie Dragons.
First,
some background. Deadly Target
is a PM Entertainment production,
and while not the first starring
picture for Gary Daniels,
it’s his first solo vehicle
that’s actually good. Indeed,
it wasn’t until PM gave him
this nudge that the
prettyboy kickboxer from London became Gary friggin’
Daniels. Just
a couple
years
afterwards,
he was working on a Hong Kong feature when the production went
broke and was bought out by
the Canada-based Keystone Pictures company.
Keystone scrapped the existing footage and did away with the
storyline, committing themselves to a completely different movie
called White Tiger,
which inexplicably
ended up being
very similar to Daniels’ aforementioned
feature. There’s no evidence that this was actually their
intention, but there’s no denying the parallels.
Now,
let’s look at which version of this adventure did it better.
The
Story
In
both features,
a law enforcement agent seeks to capture a rogue
member of the
Chinese-American mafia who’s killed the
hero’s partner en
route to distributing
an addictive narcotic on the
West Coast. In both cases,
the hero is
aided by a love interest and
the final showdown takes
place on a docked ship.
The
overriding
difference between the two is
how seriously the story takes itself. As tends to be the case with PM
productions, Deadly
Target is lighthearted with
a noticeable comedic streak. It’s a popcorn flick despite never
having seen the inside of a theater. Contrarily, White Tiger is far too
serious
to have much fun with itself. It goes for drama over
laughs, and even when there is some humor, it’s dry or
ironic. Merely
considering this, I prefer the former. While I can see some viewers
being bored
by Deadly Target’s
90s-style cheesiness,
it’s the same cheese which
gives the story texture and an
organic quality that White
Tiger lacks.
That
said, White Tiger
invests you more in its
characters. While not the most skillfully-written action feature, it
knows what it’s going for
and does a good
job of directing viewers’
emotions. Deadly
Target’s
characters are established as
soon as they appear onscreen, but White Tiger’s
tend to not show
their cards right away.
There’s development here, and it’s not just limited to the leads.
The movie wants you to think
about characters’ motivations,
and it’s ambitious enough to try and surprise the
audience at intervals with
out-of-nowhere twists.
Wisely,
it doesn’t overplay its hand: though
it liberally sprinkles the
thriller aspects, it
never forgets that we’re
expecting an action movie and
makes sure to avoid pretentiousness.
To that end, it wins me over. Deadly Target may
be more fun, but White
Tiger gives
me more to write about. It’s
a pretty good movie with
which to introduce newcomers
to Gary Daniels, whereas Deadly Target
is mainly for
established B-movie audiences.
Point: White Tiger
The
Hero
Gary
Daniels wasn’t the greatest actor at this point in his career and
his starring roles sort of blend together. Such is the case when you
compare these
movies: he’s Detective Charles Prince in Deadly
Target
and Agent Mike Ryan in White
Tiger,
and they
seem
like merely
different
takes on the same character. The
major
difference
between them
is that
Charles seems to have more fun with his life-or-death mission,
taking the
time
to crack
jokes and express
interest in other things while Mike pursues his target with uniform
intensity. You
can see practically
Charles
in an early scene of White
Tiger
while the
hero’s vacationing
with his partner’s family, and Mike seems to pop up in Deadly
Target
whenever he’s faced with the
lead villain.
When
it comes to their motivations, Mike is a little easier to empathize
with.
Charles mentions that the villain killed his (first)
partner,
but with Mike, you not only see this happen but also experience
his
investment in his partner’s family. This favors White Tiger,
and it doesn’t help that Charles seems to have some sort of
unspoken homophobia going on…but despite that,
I give the point to Deadly
Target.
For
all his shallowness, Charles
is simply
more likable. Gary
Daniels turns in a better dramatic performance for Mike,
but he’s just not interesting enough to make his relentless
seriousness
worthwhile. Charles is an example of Daniels having fun with a role,
and in
this case,
it wins him the
category.
Point: Deadly Target
The
Villain
A
hero is only as impressive
as their
adversary, and in both cases, Gary Daniels draws a good card for a
bad guy: Byron Mann as Chang in Deadly
Target
and Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa as
Victor Wong in White Tiger.
Mann and Tagawa are both acclaimed performers
who, despite having predominantly acted in other genres, are
generally known for playing martial artists – Mann in Street
Fighter: The Movie
and Tagawa in Mortal
Kombat.
Both
are versatile actors who swing between low-budget and Hollywood-grade
productions with
ease,
bringing class to both while
keeping
their dignity intact. For
both movies,
they elevate the production
and help
legitimize Gary Daniels with their presence.
That
said, I’m more impressed by Cary in this instance. Part of it’s
just that his character’s
written
with greater nuance, but he also
just
has the stronger
presence. It helps that this role goes against type for him,
so
that he’s not depicting
an
upright sentinel
for
a change.
He starts off like
that,
but within minutes you get the impression that Victor Wong would be
more at home in The
Silence of the Lambs
than Showdown in
Little Tokyo.
By
the time the movie reaches its climax, Victor has
become a self-destructive freak,
single-handedly justifying the film’s drug & fire motif.
Comparatively,
Mann doesn’t have much going for him other than that he’s
obviously
having
fun. Byron
manifests
the tone of the screenplay perfectly,
but his character sometimes
goes absent long enough for me to almost forget he’s the bad guy.
Given
his youth, Mann may seem like the more obvious choice for
an underworld renegade who’s
upsetting the established order,
but Tagawa stands
out thanks to Victor’s greater depth.
(Also, he has
a fight scene with Gary Daniels, which Mann doesn’t.)
Point: White Tiger
The
Love Interest
Please
forgive the condescension this
label implies, but in both movies, the most prominent
female character
is largely defined by her relationship with
the hero. Nevertheless, Susan Byun’s Diana Tang and Julia Nickson’s
Jade are uniquely
different
characters that
lend differing
tones to their features. Diana is
a warm-hearted person who, despite working
in
a casino owned by a mob boss, leads
a pretty sheltered
life.
Jade spends much of her
movie being an enigma, clearly knowing
more than she’s letting on.
Diana wants to get intimate with Charles
because she feels genuinely attracted to him,
whereas Jade is a femme fatale who
nudges Mike along and has sex with him only
to
further a
personal
agenda. Also,
Jade
is
infinitely more in touch with her Hong Kong heritage while Diana is
utterly Americanized and initially repulsed when Charles prepares her
a “Chinese delicacy” with squid.
As
for
who
earns the point,
it comes down to
how they fare
in the face of danger,
and
there’s
really no question.
Diana introduces
herself
by clubbing
an attacker in the head to
rescue Charles and
later
goes on to have two unexpected
fight scenes. Susan Byun becomes a temporary action hero despite
her character’s conventions,
but
Julia Nickson ironically
fares
worse. White Tiger
spends much time building Jade up as an experienced
assassin, but when the need
for her to make a move arises,
she’s instantly
overwhelmed and becomes a damsel
without
really
having
accomplished
anything.
For
both of these characters, they end up doing the exact opposite of
what you’d expect, but only Diana benefits from it. It’s
a cheap
move on the part of White
Tiger’s
writers to ultimately demean their character this way, and in this
instance, it costs them.
Point: Deadly Target
The
Supporting Cast
Which
set of supporting characters you end up preferring is largely
dependent on
what tone you favor,
as all the performers do a good job reflecting the mood of
their picture. Again, there
are many parallel roles that
are merely played differently.
Portraying
the hero’s partner is Ken McLeod in Deadly
Target and Matt Craven
in White Tiger:
martial arts-practicing straight man and
tragic best buddy. Both
police captains
are
played by award-winning TV actors:
colic-y Max Gail (Barney
Miller) and the reserved
Philip Granger (Neon
Rider). The most visible
mafia lord is played by the expressive Aki Aleong in
the first film and
the graceful Dana Lee in the other. Both feature henchman
extraordinaire Ron Yuan as the villain’s lieutenant, but he’s
only a
fully-fledged character in Deadly
Target. Last
but not least are
the roles good ol’ George
Cheung plays:
he’s a
mafia figure with no lines in the first picture,
and
one of the more interesting co-stars in the second.
If
there was nothing else to
consider, I’d happily
decree this category a draw, but the
deciding
factor ends
up being the amplitude of
supporting fighters in Deadly Target.
It’s a cool
lineup: Leo Lee, Al Leong, James Lew, Randall Shiro Ideishi, and
Koichi Sakamoto all have at least one highlighted altercation, and
the late Master Bill Ryusaki plays
one of the more
active henchmen. Lieutenant
Lydia Look – along
with her stunt double, Olympian taekwondoka Dana Hee – has a couple
of surprisingly good fights against
Susan Byun. By comparison, White Tiger
doesn’t bother highlighting many of
its supporting kickers, and that seals it for me.
Point: Deadly Target
The
Production
In
addition to the filmmakers’
talent, the quality of a
movie’s production is a
matter of time and budget, and it’s easy to tell which of
these films had more. As
I’ve mentioned, Deadly
Target is a PM
Entertainment film, and while PM was
great at maximizing its
resources and cranking out exciting
B-movies, it’s obvious
that these are,
in fact, B-movies. Deadly
Target’s no exception:
the locations are
unremarkably urban,
the cinematography is staid, the camerawork isn’t dynamic, and
even the film quality is a little grainy. Director Charla Driver –
one of the few women to direct a PM production and one of the few
women to direct a U.S. martial arts feature, period
– is every bit as good as her cohorts at
putting together a compact and entertaining action package, but
there’s no opportunity for it to rise above that status.
White
Tiger,
on the other hand, may easily be mistaken for a Hollywood production.
Keystone
Pictures would actually produce a couple of those shortly after this
one, which in retrospect seems like a warm-up exercise for director
Richard Martin. The movie showcases some exotic
locations, has
a lot of good-looking sets,
and actually has
the time to do fun stuff with its camera. The musical stings are
almost comically overdone at times, but the soundtrack still stands
out where its adversary’s is forgettable.
The
movie
generates
mixed results when
trying to be artsy
but still has
the finesse to
qualify
as a neo-noir. Whereas both features
are by-the-numbers in their own way, White
Tiger is
simply more lavish and
thereby
pulls
ahead.
Point: White Tiger
The
Action
In a way, this is the most
important category. Action pieces and fight scenes are the backbone
of any martial arts feature, and with a star as capable as Gary
“Danger Man” Daniels in the lead, both productions knew they had
the potential to make a minor action classic. To help get them there,
both selected fantastic coordinators to get the job done: Deadly
Target had Jeff Pruitt and White Tiger had the late, great
Marc Akerstream.
Pruitt was an exotic regular of
the TV and DTV realms from 1991 to 2003. As the first American member
of the Japan-based Alpha Stunts team, his cohorts and he brought a
dynamic, stunt-heavy style of action to the small screen. Though best
known for working on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Jeff
regularly got career-defining performances out of the performers he
directed, particularly DTV golden boy Jeff Wincott. Deadly Target
was the first (and thus far only) time Pruitt collaborated with Gary
Daniels, and the Hong Kong veteran works well with the style of his
handler. No slouch either is Akerstream, whose career highlight may
have been working with Jackie Chan by coordinating the vehicle that
gained JC fame in America: Rumble in the Bronx. Though he
tended to work in low-budget fare, he coordinated several times in
Hollywood blockbusters and did a ton of work for TV. Tragically, an
accident on the set of The Crow: Stairway to Heaven ended his
life in 1998.
White Tiger may actually
be Marc’s magnum opus as an action filmmaker, as he delivers some
strong pieces without being relegated by a higher-placed coordinator.
Though this is primarily a martial arts movie, it mixes things up
with some vehicle scenes and shootouts. Deadly Target does
this as well, but White Tiger has a flair in that regard that
the former can’t top, especially when it comes to the
well-choreographed scenes with the biker assassins. Still, Gary
Daniels’ fight scenes are the highlights of the picture, and what
highlights they are! The brawls dig deep into Daniels’ real-life
abilities, featuring not only a plethora of spinning kicks but also
aikido throws and intricate kung fu exchanges. A showdown with Ron
Yuan is pretty cool, and the final match with Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa is
a very decent brawl.
However, the increased production
standards ultimately work against White Tiger via
over-editing. While not horrible, the fight scenes are filled with
cuts and slow motion that tries to fool you into thinking that the
brawls are even better than they already are. Gary Daniels isn’t
some inexperienced Ken doll with shortcomings that need disguising,
so the editing tricks are facetious. Deadly Target’s fights
have no such problems, with their long takes and limited slow motion.
Though Jeff Pruitt’s heavy usage of throws and flips may seem
excessive to some, the fact is that his film’s simply less
restrained in showcasing physicality. While I understand that White
Tiger’s action may simply be a matter of stylistic consistency, Deadly Target’s greater willingness to show a fight junkie
like me everything its performers have to offer puts it over its
competition.
Point: Deadly Target
The
Winner: Deadly Target
Deadly Target
(1994) Directed by
Charla Driver (assistant director for Ice Cream Man) Written
by
James Adelstein, Michael January (To
Be the Best) Starring
Gary Daniels, Susan Byun (Sgt.
Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.),
Ken McLeod (College
Kickboxers),
Byron Mann Cool
costars:
Ron Yuan, Aki Aleong (Farewell
to the King),
Lydia Look (Battle
of the Damned),
Philip Tan (Martial
Law),
Master Bill Ryusaki (Ulterior
Motives),
George Cheung (First
Blood II),
Al Leong (Rapid
Fire),
Leo Lee (The
Perfect Weapon),
James Lew (Balance
of Power),
Randall Shiro Ideishi (Black
Scorpion),
Koichi Sakamoto (Bounty
Tracker),
Butch Togisala (Firepower) Content
warning:
Violence against women, kidnapping, police brutality Copyright
PM Entertainment Group / Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
White
Tiger
(1996) Directed
by
Richard Martin (Air
Bud: Golden Receiver) Written
by
Bey Logan (original story), Gordon Melbourne (Bulletproof
Heart),
Roy Sallows, Don Woodman, Raul Inglis (uncredited) Starring
Gary Daniels, Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa, Julia Nickson (Noble
House),
Matt Craven (Crimson
Tide) Cool
costars:
Ron
Yuan, George Cheung, Dana Lee (Dr.
Ken) Content
warning:
Violence against women, torture, sexual assault Copyright
Keystone Pictures / Crown Media
When you begin to appreciate how talented of a performer T.J. Storm is,
it’s surprising that it took so long for him to get a solo vehicle. Even though
Storm (born Juan Ojeda) entered the direct-to-video martial arts field at its
zenith, it wasn’t until the genre had gone through an
economic slump and been revived that he briefly became a leading man. The movie
that makes this possible looks like a shoestring operation, but despite being
plagued by some typical low-budget problems, it’s this scanty amount of
resources that – in true B-movie fashion – brings out the best in the
people involved. Black Cobra isn’t a
showstopper and it’s unlikely to become your new favorite, but if your
appreciation of martial arts cinema includes pure effort and heart,
this one’s worth looking at.
Black Cobra is based on a novel by Sebati E. Mafate, When the Cobra
Strikes. I can’t say whether the movie’s a faithful
adaptation, but its opening ten minutes show the filmmakers trying to
establish a lot of backstory in as little time as possible. The basis of the plot
is that Sizwe Biko (Storm) – a South African martial artist of mixed race – must find a way to release his father from jail. His dad (Michael
Chinyamurindi) is a political prisoner from the time of apartheid, and he’s
being targeted for murder by racist prison guards. He gives Sizwe
the location of the family’s treasured diamonds, which Sizwe intends
to sell so he can pay off a corrupt judge. He’d probably
prefer to do this in South Africa, but after one of the aforementioned guards
(Robert Pike Daniel) follows him to the hiding place with a couple of men
(one of them’s his son) and they’re all killed in the resulting fight, Sizwe contacts a friend in Los
Angeles (Jeff Wolfe) who agrees to help him hock the diamonds. Leaving behind
his angry fiancée (Ursula Taherian) and the martial arts master who trained him
in snake kung fu (Damion Poitier), he heads to California.
All of the above happens before the main title screen. It’s an ungraceful narrative, but nevertheless, this pseudo-montage has introduced
us to the overarching theme of the feature: the relationship between fathers
and sons. In Black Cobra, this relationship is directly connected to mortality; we’ve
already seen the racist prison guard die alongside his son, while Sizwe undertakes a life-threatening mission to save his father.
In Los Angeles, Sizwe is received by his old schoolmate Mpho – played by the
author of the book – and his roommates Gerald (J.T. Jackson) and
Gilroy (Floyd Gilmor). What they lack in indispensability they
tend to make up in likability…although Mpho’s idea to throw a party and hook
Sizwe up with a woman clearly isn’t well-advised. The evening features poor Sizwe
all but fleeing the advances of one of the ladies (Ogy Durham) and
later knocking a drunken guest into the pool after being challenged to defend
himself.
The following night, Sizwe is finally picked up by Nicholas, the guy who’s
to help him sell the diamonds. Nicholas is quite high and makes a suspicious impression, but Sizwe goes with him anyway. They pay a
visit to Goro Tanaka (Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa), a Yakuza lord looking to get into the
jewelry business. Tanaka’s son Satoshi (Richard Dorton), Nicholas’ contact, is desperate to impress his apathetic father – so desperate that following
the exchange, Satoshi and his goons attack Sizwe and steal back the money. During the attack, Nicholas stands by and
snorts some heroin. Satoshi’s intentions are clear – he wants his father to
notice him – but as Nicholas leaves his friend for dead, it’s
not clear why he’s done this. While his betrayal is never adequately explained,
it’s mentioned that he’s trying to produce a movie and needs the money Satoshi pays him for the double-cross. It’s possible that his drug habits have leveled any previous finances, and now he’s trying to simultaneously pay for both a film and his heroin use.
Sizwe is brought back home by a sympathetic passer-by called Vicky (C. Traci
Murase). Unable to locate Nicholas and not knowing what else to do, he
turns to a former martial arts instructor of
his – Shihan Kris (Stephanie Cheeva). Shihan’s first act is to test Sizwe with a fight scene
the moment he enters her home (“A simple hello would have sufficed!” Sizwe
complains afterwards). Despite
this violent reception, his teacher is pretty helpful, first giving him a potion to speed up his healing and then helping him locate Nicholas through his
father – another martial arts instructor.
Vicky – suddenly a part of Sizwe’s group –
helps them gain entry to Nicholas’ home by posing as a deliveryperson. Embarrassingly,
Nicholas is caught in the presence of escorts and planning trips to Las Vegas. Sizwe and his friends kidnap him, along
with the women (I’m not sure why). Sizwe & Co. interrogate them, but Nicholas
proves to be resourceful and surprises the friends while Sizwe is out of
the room – beating up Gilroy and Mpho while still tied to a chair. This leads
to a showdown between Sizwe and Nicholas, and while it’s the best
fight in the movie, I must admit dissatisfaction. Both performers are
talented, but the editing is overactive – constantly flipping between shots
and providing no smooth, start-to-finish
exchanges.
After Nicholas is defeated and successfully interrogated, you’d think
it’s time for Sizwe to get his diamonds back, but the movie has him contend
with some relationship drama first. Vicky has inexplicably fallen for Sizwe,
and while he politely rebuffs her, his fiancée turns up in L.A. and assumes that the
two are having an affair. This leads to a gratuitous catfight. They don’t rip
off each other’s clothes or anything, but there’s a really sheepish instance of
male pandering where they’re scrapping and cussing each other out while an oblivious
Sizwe showers. It’s an unnecessary confrontation that’s never mentioned again, and the reason that Sizwe’s fiancée – Kiki – came was to reveal that she’s pregnant. This doesn’t effect the story
much, but I suppose it raises the stakes a little.
When Sizwe finally heads to Tanaka’s base of operations, he walks into a
highpoint of family drama. Frustrated that his father refuses to give him
responsibility, Satoshi attempts a foolhardy takeover with the help of a rival
underworld faction, but his efforts are stomped on by the
better-prepared Tanaka. Tanaka favors a young protégé called Kogi (Jamison
Wang), and after Satoshi is subsequently disowned, the disgraced son takes
advantage of the chaos Sizwe causes to kill Koji with a tanto.
Finding his disciple slain, Tanaka blames Sizwe and unleashes all his minions on him.
There’s a pretty decent fight wherein Sizwe engages two knife-wielding bodyguards
(Jade Quon and Kiralee Hayashi). One of them was among Satoshi’s goons who
attacked Sizwe earlier, and it’s treated as a reveal when we see that
there are two of them. They wear masks
half of the time, so I’m not sure whether they’re supposed to be twins, but I
get the impression that there’s some untold story behind these two. Whatever
the case, Sizwe kills them by redirecting their blades at each other – similar to
the technique he used to slay the racist guard’s son. Afterwards, he engages the remainder of Tanaka’s thugs and eventually takes the fight to the aggrieved boss himself, who attacks him
with a sword.
Sizwe gets the upper hand on Tanaka, his kung fu beating out the old man’s
kenjutsu, but Satoshi appears and halts
the fight by pointing a gun at Sizwe’s head. Satoshi makes one final bid
for his father’s approval, but Tanaka notices the bloody knife still in his
hand. Realizing that his rage was misdirected, Tanaka
charges and kills Satoshi. As Sizwe looks on in shock, an exhausted Tanaka throws
him a suitcase filled with the money from their deal and tells him to go. The
Yakuza boss is left kneeling over his son’s body, his empire devastated and his
lineage lost.
After so much violence, it’s a feat that the movie manages a happy ending, with
Sizwe emotionally receiving his father as he exits the prison. As they walk offscreen, we see that by some unexplained means, Sizwe has
regained his diamonds (perhaps they were in the suitcase) and used them to repay his allies with. We also see an epilogue of Nicholas,
who tears a photo of him and Sizwe in half and lights the image of his former
friend on fire. You don’t get the impression that he’s plotting revenge or anything,
but he’s got to be reflecting on how his willingness to double-cross a pal has
led to his financial detriment. I don’t think he’s ever going to get that movie
made.
Having watched Black Cobra a few
times, I can summarize it as decent movie that could have been better.
The story shows a lot of promise, the martial cast is great, and T.J. Storm
makes a great lead, but problems with the pacing keep this one down. There’s
simply too much story to tell and the screenplay falls over itself in trying.
There are at least a couple out-of-the-blue flashbacks where the movie seems to
be saying “Oh shoot, I forgot to mention this!” There’s also some needless
timeline-hopping, not to mention a whole subsection regarding a private
investigator (director Scott Donovan) that I didn’t bother mentioning
because it’s facetious to the plot. Problems like these remind you that this otherwise
good-looking movie is an indie production, prone to amateur mistakes, and makes
me wish that Lionsgate sent the film back to the editing bay before releasing it.
(Then again, DTV action flicks are often victims of studio meddling, so
perhaps I should blame these shortcomings on
Lionsgate itself.) It’s far from unwatchable, but also far from perfect.
Nevertheless, I do recommend the movie, in part to promote diversity
within the subgenre. DTV martial arts flicks aren’t ethnically exclusive,
but aside from the fact that you’re unlikely to find a dark-skinned protagonist
unless it’s in a Wesley Snipes or Michael Jai White vehicle, it’s particularly
rare to come across a film wherein neither the protagonist nor the lead villain
are white. The use of animal kung fu in a modern fight flick is likewise pretty
unique, and while my complaints about the action content still stand, I appreciate
the little touches that choreographer Ken Ohara put in to distinguish Sizwe’s
fighting style. And despite already having been in the movie business for over two
decades when the film was released, T.J. Storm approaches his role with all the
enthusiasm of Jean-Claude Van Damme in Bloodsport –
imbuing it with the energy of a true breakout vehicle. I really hope he gets top billing again.
Someone who also elevates the
movie is Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa. Tagawa’s one of a few performers who are able to crisscross
between B-movies and mainstream cinema without damage to his career. Like Lance Henriksen and John Rhys-Davies, the guy can go from filming big-budget
work to a movie like
this, bringing some flair to it without losing his dignity. He goes the extra mile here by partaking in that
swordfight: even though Tagawa will always be known as a martial artist
for his role in Mortal Kombat, look
up his filmography and take note of how rarely he’ll actually do fight scenes. His return to actual action is perfectly
respectable, and I hope he’s not done mixing it up like this.
The film’s theme of fathers and sons is interesting. The most obvious comparison it wants you to consider is between the Bikos and the Tanakas;
at first, it seems like a simple contrast between a good father-son
relationship and a bad one, but the two sets are actually pretty similar in that both feature the son risking death for his
father’s sake. Again, mortality is key: the life of Sizwe’s father
is dependent on his son surviving his adventure, and Tanaka’s absence from the
epilogue seems to indicate with his son dead, he has no
future left. Then there’s the relationship between Nicholas
and his dad, who isn’t even credited. The decision not actually credit the latter may illustrate how the (presumably) distant
relationship between Nicholas and his father has caused both of them to fade from
prominence: Nicholas can’t get his movie made, and his pop can’t even get
credited! The fate of the father affects the fate of the son, and vice-versa.
I think Liongate’s marketing department made a questionable decision with this
one’s Region 1 DVD cover. It looks like it’s modeled after the artwork of a 50
Cent album, and in no way conveys that this is a movie about an African kung fu
practitioner who takes on an American Yakuza faction. For reasons like
this, the movie seems to have gone under most peoples’ radar, but while I can’t
justify urging viewers to see it like I might some other hidden gem, I still
hope that its audience will grow over time. Black
Cobra isn’t a movie to change our lives, but because we all love a genre that’s often criticized for unoriginality, we should celebrate instances of
uniqueness. Give it a try, maybe?
Black
Cobra (2012) Directed by Scott Donovan, Lilly
Melgar (co-director) Written by Scott Donovan, Sebati E.
Mafate Starring T.J. Storm (Conan the Adventurer), Cary Hiroyuki- Tagawa, Jeff
Wolfe (Once Upon a Time in China and
America), Ursula Taherian (Carver) Cool costars: Damion Poitier (Hunter Prey), Stephanie Cheeva (The Ultimate Game), Jade Quon (Raze), Kiralee Hayashi. Tanaka’s
henchmen include Anthony Nanakornpanom (Broken
Path), Tsuyoshi Abe (Sword of Honor),
Sam Looc (Falcon Rising), and
Tadahiro Nakamura (various Power Ranger
incarnations). Harrison Snider, who plays the drunken guest who challenges
Sizwe, is actually a competitive tae kwon do practitioner who operates the Helix
Martial Arts studio in Colorado. Title refers to: Sizwe mentions that his nickname is “the cobra.” And he happens to be black. Potential triggers: Racist dialogue, racially-motivated violence, group violence, homophobic dialogue, torture Copyright Sizwe Productions, LLC.
B-Movie Dragons 