Yi ge ren de wu lin (2014)

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sushantv10
aka kung fu killer
aka kung fu jungle 9 years ago
Siskoid
Kung Fu Killer, qu'est-ce que c'est? Papapapapa... Also known as a Kung Fu Jungle, it's a Donnie Yen vehicle where he plays a martial arts master who helps the police try to catch a serial killer whose murders are martial arts related. Half police procedural, half balls-to-the-wall fighting action, it's a marriage of genres that I wish had worked better. The whole thing with the killer's shorter leg, and thus his initial motivation, is under-developed which, like the finale's anti-climax, I tend to blame on the cop half of the film interfering with the martial arts half. On the other hand, its cinematic tone means the spell of realism is broken not just by elevated action, but movie contrivances (in the third act especially). Don't get me wrong. Yen is in Ip Man mode here, character-wise, and the action is strong. Director Teddy Chan sure knows how to create interesting environments for these battles, too. Nothing feels generic about them. An added layer, but deep cuts at best even for viewers relatively well-versed in Hong Kong cinema: cameos by older stars, stuntmen and others who work or have worked in the industry. Not distracting, because you probably won't recognize any or many. 5 years 8 months ago