War

[Drunk Monk]

War takes place in S.F. That's certainly worth another point. But the real kicker is why. War was a thinly-veiled redux of how DM and PPFY met. I shit you not. In fact, I was quite amazed to discover that they had turned our eyes-only dossier into a Hollywood movie. Of course, they took plenty of liberties with the script, probably to proect the innocent, but to explain, I have to let loose some SPOILERS. THIS IS THE OFFICIAL SPOILER ALERT. Obviously PPFY survived - the sniper bullet merely caused a minor frontal lobotomy, which curtailed his oral fixation and fixed his raspy voice. Actually, it was a considerable improvement. DM fought many more ninjas than Rogue, included a spectacular fight with Devon Aoki, but that was cut just like the bedroom scene. Or maybe it was re-edited into DOA. Corey Yuen did the corey-ography there too (see DOA, CF, you'll like it much better). All that triad/yakuza stuff was pretty authentic although DM remembers more nekkid sushi platters and neon-painted cage dancers. PPFY did not have to skip down to Tijuana to confirm the face-change op. He only had to crossover into the Mission, and he knows his way around there quite well, especially the burrito joints, so it could happen well within the timeframe of the movie. There were less guns when DM met PPFY. In fact, there were only cold arms, mostly more thrown weapons and flexibles, like chains and such. DM didn't always wear a black suit. There was more tie dye in the wardrobe. PPFY's fashion was accurate - the film captured his fashion to a T. Of course, PPFY never had a wife and child. There was a bear and dwarf, but they didn't enter into the real story at all.

Ultimately, I must stand behind Jet's claim. This was not a martial arts film. Sure, he fights some ninjas, has a sword fight and a shovel vs. sledgehammer fight, but that wasn't really martial arts for Jet. It's Jet. He can't just quit cold turkey. This was an action/drama loosely based on the epic meeting of DM and PPFY.

PPFY will like it for the balding Statham. The rest of DOOM will hate it for the jiggly cameras. For me, it brought back memories, so many memories of the triad/yakuza daze, that and meeting PPFY.