09-06-2014, 10:12 AM
Scott Adkins has been getting a lot of buzz as an up-and-coming martial arts star. I've had access to this for some time now but been putting it off. I don't know why I did that. KFM did a sweepstakes for it when the DVD was released and it's been on Netflix ever since.
N:SoaT is a stereotypic martial revenge flick - drug lord ninja kills pregnant wife of white ninja - revenge ensues. Adkins cannot act so the story is superfluous. But man, can he move. His fight scenes are long single-shot sequences, very complex, switching from big air tricker kicks to solid Karate-like fisticuffs and some big brutal falls. Really good stuff - tight and clean - although the rhythm is a little flat, like it's in 4:4 time - it lacks the syncopation, that broken tempo of convincing choreography like Jackie or even the fresh blood like Jeeja or Iko. (There needs to be a gathering of the new gen - Scott Adkins, Ronda, Marko, Iko, Jeeja, Rina - get them all together in one film and call it the Nextspendables. ) But still, excellent work - Adkins has mad skillz and I'm looking forward to watching a lot more of his stuff. Plus he is a be-yoo-tee-fulll man, fine chiseled features, straight white teeth, an eternal perfect 9:00 shadow, and a body like a comic book hero on steroids. In fact, this flick is a gun-show, and ab-show, and pec-show. Lots of shirtless fu of the highest caliber. And you know how this review ends. This is a ninja flick. It ended with an awesome finale swordfight.
N:SoaT is a stereotypic martial revenge flick - drug lord ninja kills pregnant wife of white ninja - revenge ensues. Adkins cannot act so the story is superfluous. But man, can he move. His fight scenes are long single-shot sequences, very complex, switching from big air tricker kicks to solid Karate-like fisticuffs and some big brutal falls. Really good stuff - tight and clean - although the rhythm is a little flat, like it's in 4:4 time - it lacks the syncopation, that broken tempo of convincing choreography like Jackie or even the fresh blood like Jeeja or Iko. (There needs to be a gathering of the new gen - Scott Adkins, Ronda, Marko, Iko, Jeeja, Rina - get them all together in one film and call it the Nextspendables. ) But still, excellent work - Adkins has mad skillz and I'm looking forward to watching a lot more of his stuff. Plus he is a be-yoo-tee-fulll man, fine chiseled features, straight white teeth, an eternal perfect 9:00 shadow, and a body like a comic book hero on steroids. In fact, this flick is a gun-show, and ab-show, and pec-show. Lots of shirtless fu of the highest caliber. And you know how this review ends. This is a ninja flick. It ended with an awesome finale swordfight.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse