12-26-2006, 05:32 PM
It's a direct-2-DVD vid that is advertising with the mag next issue. Stars Russell Wong, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Linda Park, Rorion & Rener Gracie, Masakatsu Funaki, Remy Bonjasky (aka The Flying Gentleman), Don Frye (aka The Predator). If you don't recognize those last five, they are all names in the NHB fight circuit. There's a few funny references - They Live tagged in the graffiti, the Gracie's sporting Gracie Jujitsu shirts - ok, there's two of them. It's an urban fight film, but you're never really sure what's going on with the villains, just that they are really mean, extort money from local businesses and they live in some gangland tagged fantasy hideout where people battle to the death in NHB matches. Wong is the villain and he looks bald and buff. Piper plays a retiring good-hearted cop and is the best thing about the flick. Hoshi, well, there's not much life after Star Trek, especially if you're an Enterprise token Asian unless maybe you come out for Howard Stern. Rorian doesn't say much, but that's ok. He has a certain presence that's cool. Masakatsu isn't bad either. Oh, and there's this lead guy, Jason Barry, who spends the bulk of the film flexing a muscle in his jaw to show how he's repressing his special forces urge to just go and kick everyone's ass and finish the damn picture.
And the fights? No wires. No CGI. Unfortunately, no inspiration either. A lot of fast cuts. Little flow to the choreography. Good guy gets beat down and then turns it around so the bad guy gets beat down. Most of it was one guy beating another with little exchange of blows. Looks more like WWE, which is to say that Roddy's fight is one of the better ones (although pales by comparison to They Live). And you know, if you just walk up to an armed cop, you can just bat their pistol away and kick the crap out of them. Well, you can if that cop is Hoshi or her back up Rener.
It's pretty par for the course as MA flicks go, sort of a throwback (as if we ever moved that far forward). It tries to ride on its 'reality' fighting star power, but sorely in need of a story, direction, a choreography and cinematography. Those guys are great fighters, but crappy in movie fights. Also it suffered from too much urban hip hop feel without much purpose - felt like a rich kid trying to play the blues. Still, just cause it's a new martial arts DVD, it's worth reporting here...
And the fights? No wires. No CGI. Unfortunately, no inspiration either. A lot of fast cuts. Little flow to the choreography. Good guy gets beat down and then turns it around so the bad guy gets beat down. Most of it was one guy beating another with little exchange of blows. Looks more like WWE, which is to say that Roddy's fight is one of the better ones (although pales by comparison to They Live). And you know, if you just walk up to an armed cop, you can just bat their pistol away and kick the crap out of them. Well, you can if that cop is Hoshi or her back up Rener.
It's pretty par for the course as MA flicks go, sort of a throwback (as if we ever moved that far forward). It tries to ride on its 'reality' fighting star power, but sorely in need of a story, direction, a choreography and cinematography. Those guys are great fighters, but crappy in movie fights. Also it suffered from too much urban hip hop feel without much purpose - felt like a rich kid trying to play the blues. Still, just cause it's a new martial arts DVD, it's worth reporting here...
Shadow boxing the apocalypse