According to AFS, Wild Goose will revolve around a thief’s redemption. The film will co-star Tang Wei (Office, Wu Xia) and Hu Ge (The Butterfly Lovers, 1911).
Considering the talent behind Wild Goose, were expecting another movie that focuses on a tightly constructed narrative and well drawn out characters.
We’ll keep you updated as we learn more. For now, here’s the Trailer for Black Coal, Thin Ice.
In the near future, murder victims have begun coming back to life with the sole purpose of avenging their deaths. Jin-hong (The Prison’s Kim Rae-won) is a cold-hearted prosecutor who’s obsessed with catching the man that killed his mother – but when she returns home, intent on killing him, he quickly becomes the lead suspect.
Looks like the possibility of a Black Dynamite sequel is no jive turkey! Since 2012, Michael Jai White (Skin Trade) has been hinting a continuation to the 2009 martial arts/blaxploition spoof – turns out, the idea of bringing Dynamite back in action is still a reality.
In a recent interview with TAE, White states that there should be an announcement for a sequel in 2018. He also mentions the possibility of a Never Back Down and Falcon Rising TV series, as well as a Blood and Bone 2.
The original, which was shot in 20 days in Super 16 format (to give it that 70s look), was an instant cult favorite among genre fans. It even spawned an animated spin-off for Cartoon Network’s late night programming block, Adult Swim.
If you’re not going to catch Showdown in Manila’srecent theatrical run, don’t stress – because Sony Home Entertainment is releasing the DVD version of the film on March 6th, 2018.
This Expendables-esque actioner also stars Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers), Matthias Hues (Ultimate Justice), Cynthia Rothrock (Shanghai Express), Olivier Gruner (Nemesis), Don “The Dragon” Wilson (White Tiger), Tia Carrere (True Lies) and Monsour del Rosario (Techno Warriors).
On April 3, 2018, Funimation will be releasing the Blu-ray & DVD for Kentaro Hagiwara’s Tokyo Ghoul, a live-action feature film adaptation of Sui Ishida’s popular manga series.
Ken Kaneki’s only chance for survival is an organ donation that turns him into a ghoul-human hybrid. Confused and alone, he finds sanctuary at Anteiku—a café run by the people he once considered monsters. When the innocent members of this ghoul safe house are threatened by humanity’s taste for vengeance, Kaneki will risk life and limb to protect the very world that changed his own.
Tokyo Ghoul stars Masataka Kubota (Rurouni Kenshin), Fumika Shimizu (Happy Landing), Nobuyuki Suzuki (7 Days Report), Yo Oizumi (I Am a Hero) and Yu Aoi (Zipang Punk).
Former MMA champ-turned-star Gina Carano (Haywire, Kickboxer: Vengeance) is back in action with Scorched Earth, an upcoming thriller that will potentially give Italian western and post-apocalyptic film buffs something to drool over.
The film is directed by Peter Howitt (Johnny English) and co-stars John Hannah (The Mummy Returns), Ryan Robbins (The Confirmation), Stephanie Bennett (Travelers), Dean S. Jagger (Game of Thrones), Alisha Newton (The Hollow) and Nathan Mitchell (iZombie).
The planet has suffered an environmental collapse; the air became dangerous to breathe, the water became toxic, and billions of people died. Generations later, mankind has finally re-established a rudimentary society, in an attempt to pick up the pieces that continue to blister in the sun. Attica Gage (Carano) is a bounty hunter with a chance at the bounty of a lifetime: to bring down the ruthless outlaw, Elijah Jackson. Gage infiltrates Jackson’s gang, and everything is going to plan until she meets a slave girl who reminds her of her dead sister.
Scorched Earth hits Theaters on iTunes on February 2, 2018, followed by a Blu-ray & DVD release on March 6, 2018.
Director: Dimitri Logothetis Cast: Alain Moussi, Christopher Lambert, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mike Tyson, Sara Malakul Lane, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, Sam Medina, Steven Swadling, Miles Strommen, Renato Sobral, Renzo Gracie, Gary Wood Running Time: 110 min.
By Paul Bramhall
It’s been 2 years since the reboot of the Kickboxer franchise hit the screens with Kickboxer: Vengeance, however even before its release it had been announced that a further 2 instalments were on the way. In 2018 the first of them has arrived with Kickboxer: Retaliation, a sequel that’s existence is as much a surprise to me as it is to anyone. To say that Kickboxer: Vengeance had a rocky road to the screen is an understatement. Originally set to be directed by Stephen Fung, with a cast including Tony Jaa and Scott Adkins, all dropped out in the pre-production stages. Fung was replaced by In the Blood director John Stockwell, but after financial issues left crew members that worked on the New Orleans shoot unpaid, he never returned, and the move ended up being completed by writer and producer Dimitri Logothetis.
It’s Logothetis that remains in the director’s chair for the sequel, and unlike the original franchise, he’s at least been able to bring along key members of the cast from Kickboxer: Vengeance. Alain Moussi maintains his role as Kurt Sloane, the character Jean Claude Van Damme played in the original, with Thai model Sara Malakul Lane returning as his wife, and Van Damme himself back as Master Durand (now blind, but at least he’s not dubbed by someone else this time around). Kickboxer: Retaliation hasn’t been without its drama though, with rumours abound of embattled executive producer Bey Logan being kicked off the project, and how many movies do you see a ‘Film Completion Guarantor’ listed in the credits? It seems confidence wasn’t running high for certain backers, but despite this, the 3rd instalment (Kickboxer: Armageddon) still appears to be on track.
The plot for the sequel is remarkably simple. After killing Tong Po at the end of the previous instalment, Moussi is now a successful MMA fighter in the States, having just won his latest match (against Renato Sobral) in Las Vegas. However for reasons that are never entirely made clear, new bad guy on the block Christopher Lambert turns up, the apparent head of an underground kumite, who wants Moussi back in Thailand for another death match. His opponent comes in the form of Icelandic man mountain Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (who’s described as “4 x Tong Po”), a bioengineered killing machine. Or so the script would have us believe, really he just has a fondness for adrenaline injections. So it is Moussi finds himself sedated, wakes up in a Thai prison, and after initially disagreeing, eventually finds a reason (hint: it involves his wife) to fight Björnsson.
All of the above is stretched over a whopping 105 minutes, of which I’m still trying to figure out exactly what they filled with. Kickboxer: Retaliation is one of those movies that pays no attention to the basic elements of filmmaking, instead expecting that if a slow motion kick is thrown every few minutes, the audiences who clock into this type of movie will be happy. Wrong. Granted, the narrative structure does manage to maintain some vague string of coherency, although admittedly there are a few head scratching moments, the real issue is that there’s nothing going on even remotely interesting. Lambert wants Moussi to fight Björnsson, that’s it. Very dull.
It’s so dull that even the head scratching doesn’t last long for lack of caring. For example when Moussi is sedated, the scene suggests his wife is taken as well, therefore giving him a reason to fight. But then she suddenly shows up in Thailand trying to find him, with no explanation as to how she’d know he was there, or what happened to her back in the US. It’s bewildering. Proceedings get more bizarre when Moussi is befriended by Mike Tyson and Ronaldinho in prison. Why they’re there we never know, but Tyson has a connection to Van Damme, so soon the 3 of them get together to train Moussi in how to take on the 6’10 Icelandic strongman. Cue Ronaldinho kicking balls at Moussi in slow motion, and Tyson teaching him how to punch a breeze block. What exactly is the goal of this training is never clearly defined, so these scenes just kind of play out like time filler montages.
Van Damme’s blindness is also treated in a bewildering fashion. Basically he’s the Belgian DareDevil, in that he’s able to “feel the air move”. However the visuals don’t follow the dialogue, instead showing that he’s able to see people’s moves before they make them, like a premonition. There seems to be no distance limitation on this air feeling either, as when he’s an audience member for the final fight, he’s able to cheer and whoop whenever Moussi lands a blow on Björnsson. Or maybe they just forgot he’s supposed to be blind. Van Damme is also followed around by his (also real life) son this time, played by Nicolas Van Varenberg, who apart from having irritatingly foppish hair literally has nothing to do during the whole movie. It’d be easier to kick myself in the face than it is to ascertain what his purpose is in Kickboxer: Retaliation, and also more enjoyable.
Eventually Moussi’s wife actually does get kidnapped, which is likely what many will think happened in the first place, and as expected it puts him on track for a confrontation with Björnsson. Despite this expected turn of events, there’s an inescapable feeling that nothing is really at risk, which makes even the fight scenes a slog to get through. We already know Moussi can fight, so it’s difficult to feel that he’s getting much out of his training, and he has no personal vendetta against Björnsson, like he did against Dave Bautista in the first instalment (despite a late in the game attempt to give one).
The action itself is uninspiring. The talent in front of the camera all have the moves, it’s the reason they were cast, however the choreography is flat, relying on slow motion to the point you can probably count the number of kicks thrown at normal speed on one hand. The slow motion is likely what resulted in the bloated runtime, and is perhaps Kickboxer: Retaliation’s biggest detriment. When whole fights consist of a series of edited together money shots, the awe of some of the moves being performed is quickly lost, as fatigue sets in at seeing another chiselled torso go flying through the air. There is some initial promise, with Moussi’s stroll through prison taking out various attackers being a brief highlight, and the Thai stuntmen are particularly game at throwing themselves into various awnings, and absorbing some painful looking falls.
The rest of the fights don’t fare so well, which include a homage to Enter the Dragon, with Moussi taking on a pair of bikini clad bodyguards (complete with glow in the dark tattoos and lipstick) in a hall of mirrors, amusingly located in Lambert’s apartment. However the scene that really takes the cake is a fight on top of a train, a realization of a dream sequence from the opening scene, it features some of the most hilariously bad green screen work I’ve ever seen. I mean it makes a similar scene is Panna Rittikrai’s Vengeance of an Assassin look like it was created by Industrial Light and Magic, and I’m also pretty sure that if you perform a flying kick on top of a moving train, you wouldn’t land in the exact same spot.
It feels strange to be talking about a fight flick and have nothing to really say about the finale itself, however there’s a first for everything, and for me Kickboxer: Retaliation is it. Perhaps it’s simply because the pairing of Moussi versus Björnsson plays out exactly the way you expect it to, with zero surprise moments. Moussi spends most of it acting like he’s putting together footage for a falls demo reel, as he gets punched and thrown around like a ragdoll, before deciding to go with some blindfolded “feel the air” nonsense to gain the advantage. Who would of thought there’d come a time when it’s ok to say that Naked Weapon executed an idea better than another movie?
The fact is that while Kickboxer: Retaliation may achieve its goal of recreating the 90’s American martial arts B-movie, if that was in fact its goal, in reality we’ve all moved on from it. Guys like Scott Adkins have raised the bar, and that bar should be the standard, not the exception. Those that enjoyed Kickboxer: Vengeance will likely also enjoy its sequel, perhaps even more so, however with a lifeless script, questionable acting, and distracting cameos, it’s ultimately too throwaway to linger in the memory more than a few hours after watching. The rebooted Kurt Sloane may want to be the new Yuri Boyka, but in reality, he’s closer to the new Jake Raye.
On April 3, 2018, Cinedigm Entertainment will be releasing Zhang Xianfeng’s sci-fi actioner Kung Fu Traveler to DVD. The film stars Tiger Chen (Monk Comes Down the Mountain) and Wang Zhi (Drug War).
In the film, aliens have invaded and overtaken the Earth. Trying to escape defeat, a Chinese General (Chen) is accidentally sent back in time while trying to devise a way to defeat the alien invaders.
Is this Tiger Chen’s answer to Timecop? In addition to Kung Fu Traveler, the Yuen Woo-ping protege, who made his starring debut in Keanu Reeves’ Man of Tai Chi, is also involved with Triple Threat, an Expendables-type actioner also starring Tony Jaa (Skin Trade) and Iko Uwais (The Raid 2).
Director: Mark Dacascos Cast: Alexander Nevsky, Casper Van Dien, Matthias Hues, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, Olivier Gruner, Mark Dacascos, Tia Carrera, Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa, Jake Macapagal, Moises Magisa, Monsour Del Rosario, Dmitriy Dyuzhev Running Time: 86 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Russian bodybuilder turned fledging action hero Alexander Nevsky, the Tommy Wiseau of the action genre, returned to screens in 2016 with Showdown in Manila, which marks the directorial debut of Mark Dacascos. Much like Nevsky’s last movie to get a release stateside, Black Rose, so his latest effort has also spent a couple of years sat on a shelf unreleased. It was ITN Distribution that plucked Black Rose out of obscurity, providing Nevsky’s 2014 directorial debut with a limited theatrical run in the States during April 2017, and the same distributors have saved Showdown in Manila from the edge of limbo. Completed in 2015, while Showdown in Manila screened in Russia, it wasn’t until early 2018 that it eventually turned up on American shores.
If you’re anything like me, you’re likely asking what it is about Nevsky’s movies that prevents them from flying off the shelf as soon as they’re put on the market, however after watching just a couple of minutes of Showdown in Manila, the answer becomes blatantly obvious. They’re pretty bad. I don’t know what it is about these former USSR countries, and their ability to make action movies with casts that read like a who’s who of 90’s American B-movies, but just like Beyond the Game and Diamond Cartel, Showdown in Manila crams them in. Matthias Hues, Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, Olivier Gruner, Mark Dacascos, Tia Carrera, and Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa all turn up for varying amounts of screentime. Dacascos appears in his own movie for less than 2 minutes, while Hiroyuki-Tagawa looks catatonic whenever he’s onscreen. It’s certainly never dull.
The plot involves Nevsky as a former New York cop who, after an operation gone wrong, is now running a private detective agency in Manila. A docile looking man mountain with zero screen charisma, and who sometimes sounds like he’s trying to imitate his idol Arnold Schwarzenegger (yes, a Russian trying to imitate an Austrian’s English accent, it’s not pretty), we learn that Nevsky is capable of crushing knee caps with his bare hands, and has an affinity for denim waistcoats. He runs the agency with Casper Van Dien, playing a former L.A. cop who’s a recovering sex addict, that escaped to Manila after being caught with his sergeant’s wife. It’s as dumb as it sounds. Van Dien, who randomly shows up after 20 minutes as the co-star with zero explanation, brings the most energy to Showdown in Manila, desperately attempting to breathe life into a horrendously clunky script.
Nevsky and Van Dien are hired by Tia Carrera (looking like her face has had a showdown with Botox), who it’s explained is a police sketch artist vacationing in the Philippines, when her FBI agent husband, played by Dacascos, is murdered in broad daylight by dialling-it-in bad guys Hiroyuki-Tagawa and Matthias Hues. I confess there’s something poetic in the way Dacascos chose to show up in his own movie for the sole purpose of being killed. Perhaps it reflects his attitude towards the whole experience of directing. In an interview I conducted with the 2nd unit director Sonny Sison in July 2017, he explained that it was Nevsky that approached Dacascos to direct, so exactly how much influence Dacascos had in the director’s chair is open to debate (and I’m sure it wasn’t his decision to include a cameo from a Russian pop star). However regardless of the truth, I feel confident in saying this will likely be the first and last time we see Dacascos the director.
He has worked with the writer of Showdown in Manila before though, Craig Hamann, when he took the lead role in Hamann’s directorial debut, with 1998’s Boogie Boy. What’s interesting is that, based on the details found on IMDB, it would appear that writing the script for Showdown in Manila is Hamann’s first significant credit since Boogie Boy, which would likely explain why the dialogue seems so rusty and lacking spark. Of course the fact the Nevsky and Van Dien have zero chemistry together also plays a factor, but with a better script, perhaps it could have been slightly less painful.
One person that Dacascos definitely has worked with before, albeit not in the film industry, is his father Al Dacascos. A Black Belt Hall of Famer, Dacascos Sr. is a highly respected American martial arts practitioner, and the founder of the hybrid style Wun Hop Kuen Do. It’s understandable that he be brought on board as the fight choreographer for Showdown in Manila, however there really isn’t enough martial arts action on show, to judge if he’s capable of transferring the realism of his style to a screen fighting aesthetic. Sison mentioned in our interview that Dacascos Sr. would usually come up with the moves, and then he’d interpret them to appeal to the camera. This is only really noticeable in a brief burst of action that Cynthia Rothrock busts out, when she takes on multiple attackers using Escrima, but outside of these few seconds there’s nothing of note.
Speaking of Rothrock and Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson, who seem to come as a package deal recently following appearances together in The Martial Arts Kid and Death Fighter, their appearance here is as incomprehensible as everything else. When proceedings shift to the jungle for the finale, a change in location which is fuzzily explained at best, Nevsky and Van Dien are met on a riverbank by a pair of Nevsky’s former comrades, played by Olivier Gruner and fellow Russian Dmitriy Dyuzhev. Gruner introduces Rothrock and Wilson to Nevsky as people that can help them in their mission to take down Hiroyuki-Tagawa and Hues, to which Nevsky responds “I’ve seen a few of their films.” I’m not sure if it was supposed to be a moment of meta-humor, but considering Nevsky’s monotone delivery of his lines, it’s difficult to tell. Either way, it felt like a face palm moment.
Not content with simply being an unremarkable action B-movie, unfortunately Showdown in Manila makes the ill-advised decision to open with a setup identical to The Raid. The influence of Gareth Evans’s 2011 classic can be seen in several movies in the years since, from Hong Kong’s Zombie Fight Club, to Bollywood’s Rocky Handsome, to Cambodia’s Jailbreak. However while those movies aimed to match the visceral thrill that The Raid provided, Showdown in Manila settles for delivering a rather dull and lifeless raid on a compound by the Violent Crime Unit Strike Force, culminating in a yawn inducing gun fight. It’s the very definition of a by-the-numbers action scene, and when Nevsky takes a bullet in the scenes finale, the fact that he doesn’t seem to have taken any stunt-fall training is equally painful to watch, as he carefully falls to the ground.
Despite Nevsky’s unremarkable track record as an action star, there’s something morbidly admirable about his can-do attitude. He’s already prepping Black Rose 2 during 2018, and is the star of Romeo Must Die and Cradle 2 the Grave director Andrzej Bartkowiak’s (who serves as executive producer here) next feature Maximum Impact, which will also feature Mark Dacascos and Matthias Hues. However rather than the talent he surrounds himself elevating his performance to their level, it seems the case that those who appear in Nevsky’s vanity projects end up being dragged down to his level. He may have lofty ambitions and dreams, but you need to have the talent to back it up. With stiff acting, lifeless line delivery, and a distinct absence of screen presence, at this point even if he got Donnie Yen to appear in his next title, I’d likely give it a pass.
Showdown in Manila may be a bad movie, however I admit seeing so many familiar faces show up to embarrass themselves did keep it mildly entertaining. Even respectable Filipino actors, such as Jake Macapagal and Moises Magisa from Metro Manila show up, along with vintage action star Monsour Del Rosario in a blink and you’ll miss it appearance (albeit one that provides a reunion with Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson, as Del Rosario played a fighter in Wilson’s 1990 sequel Bloodfist II). Towards the end of Showdown in Manila’s mercifully short 85 minute runtime, Wilson declares “Enough of this, let’s kick some ass.” If only he’d said it at the beginning, maybe it would have been less of a chore to get through. Maybe, but not likely.
Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Kevin Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat: Legacy II (aka Mortal Kombat: Legacy – Season 2).
Legacy II stars Casper Van Dien as Johnny Cage, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung, Eric Jacobus as Stryker, Michelle Lee as Mileena, David Lee McInnis as Raiden, Ian Anthony Dale as Scorpion, Samantha Tjhia as Kitana, Harry Shum, Jr. as Kuai Liang (Sub-Zero’s younger brother), Brian Tee as Liu Kang, Mark Dacascos as Kung Lao, Kim Do Nguyen as Ermac, and Daniel Southworth as Kenshi.
Hong Kong martial arts star Vincent Zhao (The Blade, God of War) is set to make his directing debut with Huzong Dieying, a spy-thriller based on a popular series of novels by Wang Jianxing (via AFS).
Huzong Dieying is being produced by Sammo Hung (God of War) and will also star Yu Nan (Wolf Warrior 2, Taking of Tiger Mountain). It is currently unknown if Hung will also be choreographing the film’s action.
The first Trailer for Tomb Raider, the anticipated reboot of the 2001-2003 film series (based on the highly successful video game franchise) has been released.
Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) steps into the role of Lara Croft (previously played by Angelina Jolie), the daughter of a missing adventurer, who must push herself beyond her limits when she finds herself on the island where her father disappeared.
Tomb Raider also stars Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight), Hannah John-Kamen (Ready Player One), Dominic West (The Wire) and Alexandre Willaume (The Last Kingdom).
Hong Kong cinema fans will welcome the inclusion of Daniel Wu (Sky on Fire), who has a substantial co-starring role. Wu continues the tradition of well-known Asian talent showing up in the Tomb Raider film world. In 2003, both Simon Yam (Mrs K) and Terence Yin (Zombie Fight Club) appeared in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.
Tomb Raider opens on March 16, 2018. Don’t miss the New Trailer below:
Ichi the Killer: Restored Director’s Cut | Blu-ray (Well Go USA)
RELEASE DATE: March 20, 2018
On March 20, 2018, Well Go USA will be releasing Takashi Miike’s 4K Restoration of Ichi the Killer (aka Ichi the Killer: The Digitally Restored Director’s Cut) on Blu-ray.
Based on the manga Ichin the Killer by Hideo Yamamoto, the film follows Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano), a notoriously sadistic yakuza enforcer whose search for his boss’ killer brings him into the orbit of a demented costumed assassin known as Ichi (Nao Ohmori).
“At Well Go USA, we’re big Takashi Miike fans,” said Doris Pfardrescher, President and CEO of Well Go USA Entertainment, “and we couldn’t be more excited that we get to finally unleash Ichi the Killer the way it was meant to be seen – and freak out a whole new audience!
Director: Jesse V. Johnson Cast: Scott Adkins, Ashley Greene, Michael Jai White, Amy Johnston, Ray Park, Ray Stevenson, David Paymer, Nick Moran, Perry Benson, Ross O’Hennessy, Roger Yuan, Lee Charles, Tim Man, Brooke Johnston, Stu Small Running Time: 105 min.
By Paul Bramhall
With a new year upon us in the form of 2018, there are 2 things that I can safely guarantee. One is that we’ll be getting more Scott Adkins movies. The other is that we’ll be getting more comic book movies. What I didn’t expect though, is for the 2 to be combined, but that’s exactly what we have with Accident Man, the UK’s busiest martial arts star’s latest action kick. For those not familiar, (which I confess, includes myself), Accident Man was a character created by Pat Mills in 1991, which featured in the UK comic Toxic! While the comic lasted less than a year, Accident Man proved to be one of its most memorable characters, about a hitman by the name of Mike Fallon who specializes in making his hits look like accidents.
As it turned out, Adkins is a huge fan of the comic, and stated it was his passion project to bring the character to the screen. Needless to say, when action stars pursue their passion projects, it often leads to interesting results. Just ask Warner Brothers, who threw a heap of money at Steven Seagal to make his magnum opus, expecting a hard boiled action flick, and instead received an Eskimo friendly eco-thriller with On Deadly Ground. Or Jean Claude Van Damme, who made his labour of love, (ironically) titled Full Love, back in 2010, which after various title changes, re-shoots, and edits, has yet to see the light of day. Adkins may not be directing like the Seagal and Van Damme of yesteryear, however it is his first time to take on script writing, and also step into the role of producer.
Directing duties are taken up by Jesse V. Johnson, delivering the second movie from the pair in less than 12 months, the first being Savage Dog from 2017. Adkins and Johnson appear to have struck a successful working partnership together, and the amount of productions they’re working on is becoming easy to lose track of. When Savage Dog wrapped, timing suggested that the next movie they were working on to receive a release would be Triple Threat, an all-star action extravaganza which pits Adkins against Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, and Tiger Chen. However since coverage started on Triple Threat, both Accident Man and The Debt Collector appeared on peoples radars, and look like they’ll be seeing the light of day first.
Combined with Twilight Zodiac, Sinners and Saints: Vengeance, and Incoming, 2018 promises to be a year when fans of Adkins will never have to wait too long to get their next fix. His choice to work so much with Johnson would indicate that, much like his previous pairing with frequent collaborator Isaac Florentine, Adkins has found a director (himself a stuntman) who knows how to use his skillset. For all intents and purposes, Accident Man is a movie which proves that theory. The direction is more confident, the pacing sharper, and Adkins is visibly in his element as a cocky foul mouthed hitman, finally able to use his actual British accent for a change.
Indeed not since Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning has a Scott Adkins flick felt like a real cinematic piece of storytelling. Sure, I’m not taking anything away from his role as Boyka in the Undisputed series, or even the previously mentioned Savage Dog, but at the end of the day, the narrative in those productions only serves as filler to the action scenes. Accident Man is a different beast, and I’d dare be so bold as to say it has more in common with British crime flicks such as Layer Cake and Sexy Beast, than it does the likes of Close Range or Ninja.
Adkins the script writer turns out to be capable of writing lines as crisp as his kicks, with a deliciously filthy script that is littered with dirty jokes and language which is not for the easily offended. Taking place on the streets of London, the heavy use of British slang, and some of the most un-politically correct dialogue you’ll hear this year, may leave some Adkins fans scratching their heads as to what they just watched, but really, that’s ok. Accident Man is the Scott Adkins show, not just Adkins the martial artist, but Adkins the actor, delivering a screen presence and charisma which has occasionally been hinted at, but never fully realised until now.
In some ways Accident Man can be viewed as the UK equivalent of John Wick, only with less guns and more, well, fists, kicks, axes, katanas, and band aids (you’ll understand once watched). Adkins hangs out in a spit and sawdust pub called The Oasis, “a pub for hitmen” as he calls it, were the local hitman community can drop by for a pint, a game of darts, and to pick up the details of their next job. Much like The Continental from the John Wick movies, inside the walls of the pub there is to be no killing, and in a decidedly British manner, no spitting. It’s in the pub we get to meet the supporting cast of other hitmen (and women), which include a pair of ex-special forces soldiers played by Michael Jai White and Ray Park, a constantly enraged man mountain played by Ross O’Hennessy, and a katana wielding “right nasty bitch” played by Amy Johnston.
The pub is run by former hitman cum barman Ray Stevenson, recognizable as Frank Castle in 2008’s Punisher: War Zone, who enforces a policy of never knowing who the client is, or what the reason is behind the hit. However when Adkins’ pregnant ex-girlfriend turned lesbian is murdered by one of their own, it sets him on a warpath against his former colleagues, leading to a series of escalating showdowns as he attempts to reveal the truth behind why she was targeted. In any other movie, this would likely consist of CSI style scenes of investigation, but this is a Scott Adkins movie, so instead it consists of a series of joyously violent fight scenes. The fight action is choreographed by one of the best choreographers working today, Tim Man, here working with Adkins for a 4th time after Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, Eliminators, and Boyka: Undisputed.
As expected, Man also gets in on the action to take on Adkins, here as a motorbike riding triad member. It provides the movie with its only kung fu showdown, as Man humorously applies old-school kung fu posturing into a contemporary setting, only to be confronted by an aggressive and clearly more skilled opponent. This isn’t the only re-match Accident Man gives us though, with one of the highlights being a fantastic two versus one, which pits Adkins against Michael Jai White and Ray Park. It’s a hard hitting fight, even though Jai White is visibly carrying a few extra pounds than we’re accustomed to. Combined with the Adkins versus twins fight from Boyka: Undisputed, it feels like Tim Man has developed a real talent for choreographing two versus one showdowns.
The sustained finale ultimately culminates in an Adkins versus Amy Johnston throwdown which is a pleasure to watch. Johnston, a stuntwoman who’s been making inroads to being an action lead, has so far been lumbered with unremarkable roles in the likes of Lady Bloodfight and Female Fight Squad, but here really gets to shine. Starting off open handed, before brandishing her weapon of choice in the form of a katana, despite the obvious difference in size they go at each other with a convincing level of ferocity and impact, with plenty of painful blows and cursing thrown in with equal measure. Needless to say, much like most of the language, Accident Man concludes its affairs with a burst of suitably bloody violence.
It should go without saying, but Accident Man is a movie which deserves to find an audience far beyond those who are only clocking in for another Scott Adkins action movie. It feels like a Guy Richie inspired crime flick just as much as it does a slice of action goodness, and it’s a testament to the script when the most intense scene belongs not to an exchange of fists and feet, but to a conversation that takes place over the bar. Throw in a soundtrack featuring the likes of The Jam, a look that far belies the budget being worked with, and a character called Finicky Fred, what you’re left with is 100 minutes of pure unadulterated entertainment. Oh, and if you don’t know what defenestration means, then this is the movie that’ll teach you.
“The One-Armed Swordsman” Chinese Theatrical Poster
We’ve got some cool news for Shaw Bros. fans today! AGFA, the American Genre Film Archive, has a new deal with Shaw Bros. to theatrically release new restorations of 30 Shaw classics.
AGFA is the largest non-profit film archive in the world, whose mission is to preserve, restore, and distribute genre films for the world to see. Advisors to the archive include filmmakers Paul Thomas Anderson, Nicolas Winding Refn, and RZA. Previous releases which AGFA had a hand in distribution, restoration, or preservation of include Donnie Darko, Battles Without Honor and Humanity, and Doberman Cop.
From the AGFA website: AGFA has curated thirty sparkling restorations from the Shaw Brothers vaults to reissue in theaters throughout the year. This includes fan favorites such as The Super Inframan, as well as deep cut horror-blasts like The Boxer’s Omen.
“It’s a dream come true to help a new generation of film lovers discover the Shaw Brothers catalog,” said AGFA director Joe Ziemba. “These movies deserve a new life on the big screen, where they can fulfill their destiny of melting as many minds as possible.”
Shaw Brothers movies are available on DCP — and in some cases, 35mm — for theatrical bookings from AGFA starting immediately
The full list of Shaw Brothers titles distributed by AGFA:
What this means for film fans in the short term is that theaters across the world may soon run newly restored prints of some of your Shaw Bros. favorites. On the long-term, hopefully this also means we’ll see those new restorations find their way to Blu-ray eventually, too.
For more information on these films, or if you’re looking to book one of the films at your theatre, check the AGFA website.
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