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Real Steel (2011)
Why do they keep ripping off the classics?
I went to the theater with low expectations (so low, in fact, I was expecting, based on the trailers, that the movie wouldn't even start until they found Atom. This happened at 45 minutes after the stated movie start time with 15 minutes of trailers.) Now, I'm a fan of bad movies with good action. I've watched some incredibly skank films on the whiff of a rumor that there might be a halfway decent fight scene in it or it features an unknown (to the West) martial arts choreographer whose names rhymes with "Bang." I am also a connoisseur of giant robots. From MechCommander to Cyberball, I just can't get enough of them. Frankly, I would have been extremely happy if it was just a crappily animated CGI version of Rock'em, Sock'em Robots.
But no. Not only was it crappily animated, it crappily animated other classic movie and real life boxing matches. Rocky I's ending? Check. Rocky III's ending? Check. Rocky IV's villain? Check. Ali's Rumble in the Jungle strategy? Check. To top it off, the overriding story (father vs estranged son) is straight out of Rocky V.
As a fan of both martial arts (including boxing) and giant robots, I felt there was no way I could be disappointed in this film. What I wasn't counting on, however, was the sheer lack of imagination.
Ong Bak 2 (2008)
Hugely disappointing outing from Tony Jaa
I am a huge fan of Tony Jaa, and I think Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong are two of the best martial arts movies ever made.
While the production values of Thai films in general are very low by western standards, his films generally stand out for their stunts, fights, and sheer audacity.
In this movie, however, Jaa's fights are few (2? 2.5 counting that atrocity that was the dance scene and the skills test) and the quality was horrible.
I admit, it is very difficult to match the fights from Ong Bak 1, although Tom Yum Goong did try it by adding different styles and levels of fighters, along with the incredible stairway sequence that was filmed in one take.
This movie, on the other hand, simply appeared to run out of money and imagination, preferring to spend a lot of camera time on close-ups of really ugly people screaming.
Imho, this movie committed the cardinal sin of action films: not enough action, and what action it did have was boring.
I got the Korean version, and I would recommend not bothering to watch it after the Weinsteins have chopped it into incomprehensibility.
Watchmen (2009)
Ambitous, yet falls short.
The biggest problem with the Watchman comic is that the nuances only emerge after repeated readings. There's really no way to capture this in a film, where the goal is to be entertained in one sitting.
While faithful to the comic, as a film, it fails. However, if you enjoy "300" style fight scenes, this movie will not disappoint.
For me, while I had nostalgic enjoyment at how it followed the comic, and I do enjoy 300-style fights, the film rang hollow and the actual story seemed tinny and archaic.
Overall, while fans of the comic will not be disappointed, I think this story was better told in 1989 than 2009.
Kung fu (2004)
Very disappointing follow-up to "Shaolin Soccer."
The basic problem with the entire film is that it tries to outdo "shaolin soccer." in this, it fails. the reason it fails is one simple reason: originality. most American films fail miserably because they try to copy a successful formula from before. what you end up with is a copy, and an inferior one at that. some scenes i felt were copied from:
1. gangs of new york 2. warner brothers cartoons, most notably road runner 3. the mask 4. "it happened one night" 5. the matrix reloaded and the matrix 6. spiderman probably more, but i didn't watch the originals. i am fairly certain some of the jokes came out of charlie chaplin, harold lloyd, and the three stooges.
The affect this had on me was deep disappointment and disgust. the funniest parts in "shaolin soccer" were original and (I felt) actually outtakes that made it into the final film. they took chances with original situations and, even though not 100% successful, were interesting nonetheless in their daring.
This feeling was made even stronger because of the great fight sequences. this is one of those movies, to me, where i will probably memorize the time counter for the fight scenes and ignore everything else. there are 4 fight sequences: the first is fairly traditional, the 2nd is more CGI yet effective, the third is a good balance between cgi and action, but the fourth is almost total cgi which features one of the most powerful (in kung fu film history) fighting styles in the most boring way, i.e. the mighty toad style.
If they had added a few minutes to the film, they could have had a much better product simply by making more characters three dimensional rather than flat. In the small village, many great fighters chose to live in anonimity, trying to retire from kung fu. Why? Out of the 5 "great" masters in the village, only 2 refer to a specific event in the past (although no details surrounding the event) and another can be guessed at. otherwise, there is no information at all about why each person chose to live in hiding.
But, going back to the fight sequences: I hate fighting styles where the move is very dumb yet supposedly powerful. This movie features many of these, including: The Lion's Roar, Buddha Palm from Heaven, the Amplified Lion's Roar, Toad Head Butt, etc. etc. etc., although I will say this is marginally better than having them announce the move before attacking as in old run run shaw films, this film became a crappy cgi fest.
However, several of the fight scenes were very well done. I really enjoy the many-vs-few fight when the few enter the fight one-by-one after making a moral decision, e.g. the first fighter is almost swarmed, and the next guy jumps in just in time, etc. etc.
Other than the fights and the unoriginality, the underlying story was pretty good. basically, it's about a guy who wanted to be a hero, but in his first time out, gets beaten badly and is convinced that being bad is the only way to win, but a girl makes him see the truth. Plus, he's a miserable failure as a bad guy.
I think, overall, that this film was sabotaged by the incredible 'shaolin soccer.' Shaolin soccer set the bar too high on CGI-support in fight scenes, and original comedy. hopefully, stephen chow will realize that the best way to make good comedy is character and situation, not formulae.
Ong-Bak (2003)
Old-style film-making with a hot new talent
Tony Jaa is going to be a big name someday. He's one of those once-in-a-generation type of fighters that leap off the screen, that need to be told to slow down because they move too fast for the film to capture.
But, is a single star enough to light the night sky? I think so, others I have seen will disagree. Yes, you see pads, especially on bruising thigh kicks and elbows to the thigh. But, you also see the contact, and the neck blows (and there are tons) aren't padded. many of the fighters also wear wigs and toupees to protect their heads, which i don't mind at all. I would much rather see a pad than to see Jackie Chan's endless post-film footage of stunt actors being carted away in ambulances. I'm extremely glad he stopped showing that, as it, imho, makes me feel bad about enjoying the movie.
I feel that great athleticism should be shown in a relatively safe form. This is difficult, as seeing pads and such detracts from the immersive film experience. But seriously, if you were there when Ric Flair broke his neck or "The Polish Hammer"'s son dislocated his kneecap, "real" fighting often sucks. I also feel that people who rabidly only follow "real" fighting enjoy pain, not the beauty of motion nor the athleticism of gifted athletes.
All that being said, this movie is worth buying (not just renting) for Tony Jaa himself. This guy is absolutely amazing, and for most of the film, you get the feeling that he could do more.
Regarding the quality of the film itself: The stunts are first-rate and incredibly executed, and of course, Tony does almost all of them himself (the same can't be said for his co-stars.) The editing is pretty good, although I suspect that some scenes were cut for budget/time, and this made the storyline suffer. However, only 1 of the side stories. The main story is resolved almost flawlessly (where's the ring, Ting?) After watching artsy "kung fu" films like Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers, my eyes were extremely thankful for natural city hues. Cave scenes i usually don't like, but here the earth tones were rich, blended very well, and provided just enough contrast between the different actors.
The main criticism I have is: if you have somebody with the potential to become "the next X" (eg. jackie chan,) you don't need to follow his formula. You don't need a comedy relief guy. You don't need the waif girlfriend. You don't need the athletic contest to choose the best fighter in the village.
But, all of these are minor compared to Jaa's greatness. Just like Jackie Chan's, Bruce's or Jet's early work, the actor is the only special effect you should need.
I hesitate to call it a "10," as this, imho, doesn't have the budget, experience, nor refined skill in film-making as Drunken Master 2, Fist of Legend, the Chinese Connection, nor Hit-man, all films i would rate above this. Also, Tony may never reach the pinnacle if he continues to abuse himself in such extreme ways as he does here. I'll give this a 8.
Shi mian mai fu (2004)
If you've seen these movies, you've seen HOFD:
Titanic: Love story/action flick inexpliciably turns 180 degrees into an action flick/love story at the half-way point. Bonus: Romantic theme song later repeated slower to add to drama. Bonus 2: lead actor also looks like a very pretty woman, but the one here can act.
Hero: Discombombulated heads meander through monochrome Van Gogh paintings (although not nearly as blindingly as in Hero.) CT:HD: Zhang Ziyi's continues her 50/50 chance of either somebody trying to rape her or having sex with her. Why does she bother being alone with men anymore? She should wear chainmail, razor-embedded panties 24/7. Bonus: "Everybody Was Bamboo Fightin'" should be her theme song.
Lord of the Rings: CG weapons fly at blinding speeds over terrain before either a) slaughtering soldiers or b) flying around like birds. Bonus: Infinite number of endings/plot twists. DVD will probably contain a separate disk to explain all of them.
Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone: The Echo Game becomes the one-on-one version of Quidditch...but with drums or bamboo instead of hoops, and daggers or pebbles instead of balls.
Various: creative editing keeps even a single nipple from being shown. Also, first drop of blood doesn't appear until 1:00 in the film.
Blood of the Samurai (2001)
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
The good: action. lots of action. all the fighters in the film with the exception of maybe the tracker and the girls were apparently real martial artists. while they did take a few shortcuts for safety reasons, overall, the fighting was better than say a van damme movie.
the bad: the non-fighting action scenes, such as the motorcycle ride, were too long. it seemed to me that somebody was really proud to have a sporty-looking motorcycle and wanted to feature it prominently in the film, which imho, hurt the film tremendously. There are many places where "cool equipment" figures prominently in various slow-mo scenes, which is distracting when the equipment is not cool to begin with, but can be purchased from a store rather than custom-made.
the ugly: the dialogue. while bad writing is almost normal these days, it was also paired with bad delivery, particularly from the two main characters. on top of this, the budget was also too low for decent sound work. the voices tend to sound tinny and far away. i think they weren't able to use a sound stage, which, given the budget, is forgivable. but, having bad lines, bad delivery and making it hard to hear is unforgivable.
Overall, since I am proud of the fact that a hawaii production got the attention it did, and that it was able to attract enough funding from this film for a 6 episode run on local cable, I wish there was more to offer here than just local pride.
Fight Club (1999)
three movies in one
"I am Jack's movie review."
One reason this movie is so hard to classify is that there are actually three separate storylines in one. The first is a comedy buddy movie between Pitt and Norton that takes about the first half of the movie. Intertwined into this is a psycho love story between Norton and Carter, taking about the same parts. Project Mayhem is where the horror/thriller begins, along the lines of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."
Part of what makes this movie unique is the juxtaposition of three non-cliched cliche storylines. It's a sick, twisted buddy movie. It's a sick, twisted love story. It's a tame horror/thriller (where other than Meat Loaf's head-bullet and Norton's neck wound, nobody gets seriously hurt.)
"I love you....Sir."
What makes it work is the comedy. The funny parts make the ludicrous parts more realistic and bring a very unusual level of reality to the actors and the situations. "Dark comedy" or "black comedy" is most often used to describe this film, although few dark comedies reach the levels of hilarity this film does.
To avoid spoilers, let's say that for most people, the first viewing is nowhere nearly as rewarding as the 2nd, 3rd, or 40th viewing. And then, once you think you've figured it all out, you discover even more hidden caveats in the DVD commentaries.
One tidbit at the end of the actor's commentary is that Norton approached Pitt and they talked about making movies that stand the test of time. While some movies still in print are still in print for mysterious and unknown reasons, in literature, "classic books" are those that contain universal themes, often while reflecting culture and society of the time.
"Fight Club" definitely has a lot of philosophy, a lot more than say "The Matrix." A short list: Fathers, fatherhood and a father's responsibility the existence, real or imagined, of God the Feminization of men Anger vs. aggression friendship, relationships, and love mental and spiritual strength vs physical
However, the philosophy here has not reached the mass appeal of say Yoda-isms from "The Empire Strikes Back" nor "The Matrix," probably because of realistic context, homeoerotic overtones, or general weirdity. But, are they universal? Definitely. Does it reflect the culture of the day? Of course.
"The 4th rule of movie reviews: make up your own words like 'weirdity.'"
So, should you watch "Fight Club?" There's a 50/50 chance to either really love it or really hate it after the first viewing. If you already hate it, maybe it's time to watch it again. There's a level of maturity that is required to really enjoy it and get past the repulsive surface features, frat boy mentality, and toilet humor.
"You haven't watched a movie this f*cked since grade school."
The Ring (2002)
not bad, not good, but better than other recent films
In 1999-2000, I spent a year in Korea teaching English. While there, I had a very surreal experience. Before the summer of 1999, all Japanese imports, including films, were banned in Korea. Beginning that summer, the moratorium on Japanese cultural imports was lifted. One of the first Japanese films released in Korea at this time was "Ringu." However, since it needed to be captioned into Korean, it was released six months after it's initial release in Japan, just in time to be in theaters with the Korean remake, "Ring." (Apparently this is why the American remake was called "The Ring.") My surreal experience was going to see the Japanese version in a multiplex also showing the Korean "Ring" at the same time, with all the Koreans panning the Korean version and flocking to the Japanese version.
Back to the topic at hand, I liked the American version better than the Japanese version. The Japanese "Ringu" was basically what I call a "yap" movie, where the there's so much story that all the characters can do is basically make discoveries and discuss it with each other. The American version has much more action, and is much faster-moving than the original.
However, a copy is still a copy. The final scene where the "monster" is revealed is much more effective in the original, just because to me, it's the 2nd time I've seen it. Others who watch the remake first may disagree. (What interests me, however, is that I think the American version used the exact same clip and/or technique as the original version. Close viewing of the "monster" scene shows that it was filmed in reverse and played forward, just like the original.)
But, the American version didn't just copy the copy of the original, but threw in a whole bunch of other modern themes as well, such as the creepy little girl (The Others), the little quasi-psychic boy (The Sixth Sense), the quest for a father theme (The Rookie,) and female protagonist not dying (I know what you did last summer, Scream, Halloween, too many others to count.)
Overall, the highest complement I can give this film is that I didn't feel ripped off, which is pretty high praise nowadays.
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Bad writing, worse effects.
As I was watching this film, I kept Roger Ebert's immortal words in mind, that he "couldn't recall a single line of memorable dialogue."
This is exactly what's wrong with this film. The writing is atrocious. In the original, where the lines were original, witty, and delivered with great effect, in this film, I dreaded every time a character opened their mouth.
For example, C3PO to R2D2: "Idiot!"
Wow.
In fact, R2D2 is the only one with a shred of their future/past dialogue.
Also, Ebert helpfully pointed out that what lines there were were culled from every single cliche ever made. Again, he was right.
For example, Annakin on his mother's death: Mom, I'll miss you...soOoOoOoO much.
Regarding the "look and feel" of this film, I would say it lost too much using digital effects. The actors have no environment to play off of. Many of the animated characters lack weight and physical presence, without even the slightest hint that they actually exist.
But now it's time to say something nice about this film: It didn't suck as much as phantom menace. For that, I would say it's the 2nd worst film in the series, or 4th best, depending on how you look at it.
The Scorpion King (2002)
Wanna see the Rock, Nicholson, Deniro and Hanks in the same paragraph?
Ok, it's cliched. Ok, it rips off about a dozen other movies. Ok, the Rock is not an actor, but a wrestler.
Overall, it was a lot better than I thought going in.
What we have is a ridiculous plot, a bunch of Hollywood claptrap, and and a script that is, by all standards, above par for modern movies...which means while I probably wouldn't use it to wipe after #2, I wouldn't frame it on the wall either.
But the Rock transcends all that. He was, as a larger than life character, asked to play a larger than life character. And he did it.
While this movie appears to have everything going against it, it is entertaining. Of course, I wouldn't give it a ten (like all you other ignorant, blind, dumb yahoos who vote-pumped LOTR and Harry Potter into the top 3) or compare it to Conan, but there is something about seeing somebody who fills a legendary character out because they themselves *are* a legendary character.
I expected him to put up a rather shallow performance, just like Hulk or Roddy, but instead he made Matthias his own, not a reflection of his ring persona.
Unlike say Jack Nicholson or Robert DeNiro (you read it right, I am comparing Dwayne to both) if you see them on the screen you basically have met the person. The Rock, however, rose above what the screen tried to make him. In every cliche shot, you get the the typical slo-mo bruhaha. However, in those where he's actually acting, you get a hint of how much he adds to the performance, much like how Tom Hanks took Gump and made him real instead of a cartoon.
Overall, I would recommend this film to action fans (except you Conan geeks) and Rock fans, but don't go in with high expectations. Remember, Indy 2 stank, even though it had Harrison Ford.
Just one other thing I'd like to say: Kelly Hu, you are totally hot. If I wasn't married....
Wu du (1978)
A gem from the past
I originally watched this film as an 8 year-old staying up late on a local TV series, "Black Belt Theater." Back then I was impressed by the fighting. Today, as a much older fight-fan who has seen the likes of Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and others, I am no longer impressed by the fighting. However, it's the story that is impressive now.
By my reckoning, there are two real fights in the film, Centipede vs. Toad, and the final fight among 5 of the main characters, and neither are impressive by Jet Li/Jackie Chan standards.
However, the story is incredible. Unlike many other movies that tried to keep a secret, this one pulls it off right. The key is to have enough characters so that the audience cannot guess right away who is who, like "The Usual Suspects." The second key is to reveal them naturally as the story demands it, rather than hold back clues until the very end for a contrived feel, unlike the "The Usual Suspects."
The Snake, Centipede, Lizard and Toad are revealed very early in the film, but the Scorpion is not revealed until the end. What makes his unmasking all the more dramatic is that his true goals and agenda are hidden until the very end.
Another strong point in this film is that each character has real and believable goals, rare by today's standards, and almost unheard of in today's kung-fu films. What is even more astonishing is that these goals change, as well as change the characters in the process. Some characters are two dimensional and flat, while others have incredible depth, most notably the Snake, Scorpion, and Lizard.
It is wrong to believe that this is a kung-fu film with a story added. This is a story-driven film that happens to have kung-fu.
I would not recommend this film for fight fans, but for students of filmmaking and writing, this is a classic that will teach you a lot about the art.
Other reviewers here have noticed a few weaknesses. I agree that the cinematography is nothing special. Those who said it is "incredible" need to look at art films like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," or from the same time period, "Apokalypse, Now." Those who thought the fighting was awesome need to look at Jackie Chan's "Gorgeous" or the pachinko hall fight scene from "Thunderbolt" or just about any non-American film featuring Jet Li.
Overall, I agree that this film lost a lot over time, but nothing can detract from a good story.
Hal
The One (2001)
Waste of time, money, and talent *spoiler. of what, I'm not sure*
Admittedly, I went in with high expectations, since it featured Jet Li and all. But boy did this movie suck.
This is one of those films (like the Matrix) where the main star is a cool special effect. Unlike the Matrix, however, the cool special effect is all there is.
If you are a fight fan, don't bother. There's only 1 fight.
If you are a sci-fi fan, don't bother. There's 3 total scenes from more advanced universes.
If you are a Jet Li fan, don't bother. The make-up job is atrocious so he looks 20 years older.
How can I say this even a monkey could understand: FILM BAD
This movie p*ssed me off so bad I went straight to Blockbusters after the film to try and rent something decent.
*spoiler alert*
Nowadays, it's pretty normal for a movie to have zero story. This movie has less than zero for a story. In one part, the good Li's 'friends' jump him without even asking his side of the story. Good Li then beats the crap out of them without even trying to explain. Then, they hunt him down just to set up a pretext where his wife can get killed. All of this just so that he can't return to his own universe, which sets up the happy-happy-joy-joy ending.
Also, the underlying pretext of the story is dumb. If you get more powerful as each double dies, then the older you get the more powerful you get. The last one to die is the most powerful right? So the oldest fart is the strongest.
The ending makes all of this even more ludicrous. Evil Li is sent to a prison planet, where he immediately picks a fight with the entire world. Of course, he should eventually tire, die, and Good Li will become the one anyway, which will cause all the universes to implode.
Sigh. I should have just stayed home and drank beer.
Thir13en Ghosts (2001)
a lot better than the reviews say
In this day and age, my expectations are getting lower and lower. Suffice it to say, I walked in to 13 Ghosts with no expectations at all and I wasn't disappointed.
The story is below par, the monsters are below par, the thrills are below par, and the acting is below par.
That being said, given that all movies nowadays are below par, this movie was far less below par than say Blow.
This is the first time in months I have walked into a movie theater and not felt ripped off. I felt it was actually worth the money.
The house is brilliantly constructed, much like the unreleased in America "The Cube." In fact, if I had to choose the best actor in the bunch, it would have to be the house.
The monsters are filmed in a scary-ish manner. If you dissect them from a technology standpoint, they are about as scary as William Marshal being dipped in flour for Blacula. However, as any movie freak knows, it's not what they look like but what they do and how they do it that counts. And what they do is scary-ish, sort of.
What adds to the fear factor is the mythology surrounding them, which the creators have chosen as an obscure manual that I have not seen used before in a horror film. I found this startlingly refreshing. However, giving the monsters a mythology is not the same as the monsters _having_ a mythology.
Where the movie fails is not utilizing this wonderful backstory for the monsters. Like many movies nowadays, it ties up all the loose ends yet leaves the door open for a sequel. This technique is so overused, to say it is cliche would be an understatement. The movie loses a lot of its effect in that the monsters are purely one-dimensional, with 1 or 2 notable exceptions.
Overall though, while the thrills are there, the story misses its chance of becoming a classic by only a few minutes. By extending the movie to a more reasonable 105-120 minutes (I timed it at 90 minutes) it could have been a contender.
The Color of Money (1986)
This is a movie that can change your life
In retrospect, anybody who has seen both "The Hustler" and "The Color of Money" have a hard time judging the relative quality of the two films. Depending on which one you have seen first, you probably will pick that one as the better of the two.
However, this film changed my life in that after watching it, I was determined to become good at pool. Years later, after attaining a certain degree of ability, I watched it again, and found the shots to be rather simplistic and contrived.
Compared to "The Hustler" however, where the main actors made all the shots themselves, there was an amazing degree of ability displayed. In the latter film, the shots were set up for them, while in the former film, the shots took more skill.
This, however, is not what changed my life. While playing pool does have a significant role, I was most astounded by the degree of skill this movie was directed in. The first time I saw it, I was impressed by Tom Cruise's "skill." Later, I was astounded by the camera work.
Without the imaginative direction, this movie would have been an average flick. With it, (for example, look at when the helicopter sound starts during the first con Newman and Cruise pull,) this film becomes genius.
Hal
Wo hu cang long (2000)
Good and bad, but don't expect too much
First of all, after reviewing the other comments before this, I was surprised at the shallowness of most of the reviews.
From a cinematography perspective, the movie is incredible. Ang Lee continues his tradition of beautiful shots. While some people complain about the pacing, as you can see in many other movies, slow pacing is used to build atmosphere and tension. From a western perspective, yes, I also found the movie a bit slow in parts (the whole desert seduction just kept going and going and going,) but from a filmmaking perspective, it is a great achievement.
From a cultural perspective, I found the dialogue incredibly bad, not so much for what was written or the character's motivations for saying what they did, but the delivery. Perhaps in China, you can deliver a dramatic line with no pacing or pauses, but in the west it sounds a lot duller.
As a kung fu film fan, I was most disappointed with the quality of the fight scenes. Perhaps, Lee looked for the best actors, not necessarialy the best fighters.
Also, I am not a big fan of wire-fights. If you watch any of Jackie Chan's movies, or Jet Li's classic "Fist of Legend," you get a true sense of superhumanity, and any wire fights afterwards pale in comparision. (One such incredible actor who will no doubt become a household name in a few years, James Dean Bradley, the white guy in Jackie Chan's woefully underrated and barely released in the US "Gorgeous," is one amazing example.
All that being said, I would wholeheartedly recommend seeing this movie, because the story is so strong. Every character has 2 or three different and competing motivations for every single decision they must make, and the decisions they actually make make their character really come alive with complexity and emotion.
If I would compare this movie to another, it would be John Woo's "Last Hurrah for Chivalry." Again, there is a strong story, lots of wire fighting, and good cinematography.
In summary, if you are looking for good fighting, you can wait for the video to see this movie. If you are looking for a good time, then go see it on the big screen.
Charlie's Angels (2000)
Surprisingly good
I went in with low expectations, but I actually enjoyed the film. The story is surprising, and not as cliche'd as so many others nowadays. There's no virus that will kill everybody, or nuclear bombs, or anything like that.
I'm a big martial arts fan, and I was happy to see the Matrix fight scene techniques used in this film. The girls pull it off surprisingly well. Actually, the worst fighter of the three was Liu. Also, Drew Barrymore is a tad too heavy to pull off convincing wire work.
So, I'm going to be in line to get a copy of the video, and kudos to the producers for putting together an entertaining, if not memorable, film.