Kung Fu Killer just got a domestic release. Check out our review!
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| "Here. Let me grab your pole." |
If you look up “ass whooping” in the dictionary you will
find a picture of Donnie Yen next to the entry.
He is most famous recently for his role in Ip Man, but has been in other great martial arts films such as Hero and Iron Monkey. Kung Fu Killer is a return to form of
sorts for Yen, but unfortunately it falls a little short both on a technical
level and story-wise.
The story, about a serial killer that targets martial arts
masters, is interesting on paper but fails to remain engaging and lacks
emotional resonance. It’s choppy and things seem to happen for no rhyme or
reason. The killer’s motivation is ludicrous and while they try to emulate the
tension of other, better thriller movies, it never quite reaches that level. Some
would say that the story doesn’t matter in these types of films, but The Raid 2 proved that you could have
kick ass fights and a compelling plot
simultaneously. The acting for the most part is satisfactory but the main
antagonist, Fung (Baoqiang Wang) is so incredibly overacted that it borders on
parody. Now, this is a given in a lot of Hong Kong productions in general, but
it’s inconsistent with the more serious tone of the rest of the film.
I can hear the reader of this review scoffing and thinking
“Well, I sure as hell don’t watch martial arts films for the story! I come to see awesome fights! How are the fights?!” Unfortunately, I was
disappointed with most of the fight choreography in Kung Fu Killer. It’s odd because Donnie Yen directed the fight
scenes in this film, so I was expecting much better. The camera is zoomed in
too close and it relies too much on quick cuts and stylized speed-ramping. These
guys can fight though, which makes this decision peculiar. Usually these types
of techniques are used to cover up an actor’s lack of skill in martial arts,
but all of these actors are famous fighters who don’t need that type of
compensation. They aren’t terrible, by any means, and one in particular
featuring Louis Fan (Riki-Oh: The Story
of Ricky) sword-fighting is expertly crafted and performed. There are a ton
of cameos by iconic martial artists that fans of Hong Kong films will be
pleased to discover.
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| "Dude. Stop grabbing my throat!" |
Overall, the film is shot well and looks great. It has a
modern and polished look that can sometimes be absent from martial arts movies.
It’s apparent they had a large budget and they spend it lavishly on incredible
set-pieces and chase scenes. Because it was so high-profile it may have
suffered from too many cooks stirring the pot--it seems like there isn’t enough
coherence between all the different elements of the film. It’s not a bad way to
spend an hour-and-a-half though and it’s worth at least a rental to see some
the action scenes. As always, Donnie Yen is fun to watch open a can of whoop
ass, even if it is a store brand generic version.
-Michelle Kisner