Paper Tigers, The (2020) Review

“The Paper Tigers” Theatrical Poster

Director: Bao Tran
Cast: Alain Uy, Ron Yuan, Mykel Shannon Jenkins, Jae Suh Park, Matthew Page, Joziah Lagonoy, Ken Quitugua, Phillip Dang, Andy Le, Brian Le, Yoshi Sudarso, Peter Sudarso, Gui DaSilva-Greene, Mark Poletti, Yuji Okumoto, Raymond Ma, Roger Yuan
Running Time: 108 min.

By Paul Bramhall

It’s been a long journey for writer and director Quoc Bao Tran’s first full length feature, The Paper Tigers, to come to fruition. Starting out in 2016 as a proof-of-concept called The Challenger, the 7-minute short was essentially an extended fight scene between Martial Club’s Andy Le and ZeroGravity Stunts’ Ken Quitugua. The short featured Le as the character who was intended to be the lead in the feature length production, only with the twist that in The Paper Tigers, it’s now 30 years later and the ferocity of youth has given way to the monotonous grind of adulthood. The Challenger was followed by a successful crowdfunding campaign, and in 2020 Bao Tran’s vision was finally able to be released. On paper (no pun intended) at least, the plot for The Paper Tigers reads like literally 1000s of old-school kung fu movies. 

A trio of kung fu students – known as the Three Tigers – learn that their master has passed away. Suspecting foul play, they come together to get to the bottom of who killed their sifu and take revenge. The big difference here is that the trio are a world away from the noble warriors that populate the kung fu movies of old. Alain Uy, an actor known mostly for his television work, steps into the role that Andy Le played in The Challenger, now an insurance salesman struggling to keep custody of his young son. Ron Yuan, most recently seen in the likes of Mulan and Birth of the Dragon, plays a character whose kept his passion for kung fu, but suffers from a crooked leg due to an accident at work several years ago. Mykel Shannon Jenkins, most recognizable as Turbo from Undisputed 3: Redemption, is cast as a character who’s walked away from kung fu altogether, instead choosing to become an MMA coach.

The distance between who the men have become, and who the death of their master reminds them they’re supposed to be, is really the crux that drives The Paper Tigers, as a trio of guys who were once as close as brothers attempt to reconnect with each other after 20 years. The real charm of Bao Tran’s feature length debut though, is not that it’s disguising itself as a kung fu movie, but quite the opposite, being one of the most authentic kung fu movies to grace the screen in a long time. Although tonally completely different, thematically I was reminded while watching The Paper Tigers of Chapman To’s The Empty Hands, in that both are undeniably pure martial arts movies, while neither of them resort to being packed to the rafters with fight scenes. 

Transposed to modern day Seattle, while at the outset the assumption is that the trio have drifted apart due to the passage of time and life taking them in different directions, as the narrative progresses certain long buried truths are revealed that force each of them to come to terms with their broken friendship. While that may sound heavy, its worth bearing in mind that all of this plays out against the backdrop of the trio attempting to track down what they surmise is a “kung fu hitman”, and there’s a sense of humor that carries through The Paper Tigers delivering several laugh out loud moments. Of particular note is the casting of Matthew Page, most well known as the creator and star of the Enter the Dojo online series. As a character who spent his youth frequently losing to the Three Tigers, he’s grown into a real kung fu sifu, complete with identifying as Chinese and speaking in a mix of Cantonese and fortune cookie wisdom.

While the character could easily border on caricature, Bao Tran strikes just the right balance and allows him a certain level of empathy. Despite his stoic demeanour and meaningful utterances, his delight at finally being able to defeat the Three Tigers, along with his constantly poking fun at Yuan’s weight, serve to humanise what would otherwise be a one-note comedy foil. Which brings me to the action. Indeed it may not be packed to the rafters, but there’s still plenty of it! Bao Tran has once more brought on Ken Quitugua from ZeroGravity Stunts as fight choreographer, and he also plays a key role allowing him to get in on the action. For anyone who hasn’t seen Quitugua’s talents onscreen, I’d strongly recommend checking out Dennis Ruel’s Unlucky Stars, in which he plays the co-lead and gets plenty of opportunitiy to strut his stuff!

Andy Le also returns to the fray, this time with his fellow Martial Club co-founder and brother Brian Le, and stuntman Phillip Dang. Playing a trio of young kung fu punks, they get to go one-on-one against the old guard in an entertaining mix of high-octane HK style flair versus 40-somethings attempting to remember how to move like they did 20 years ago. It’s a skilfully handled confrontation, balancing comedy, realism, and impact. Bao Tran stays committed to his characters plight throughout, which is one of the elements which makes The Paper Tigers so enjoyable. At no point do the trio miraculously become their young selves again, and in-between their amateur investigative skills and every day lives they don’t even have time to train. However they do find the will to fight again, even if their bodies don’t like it, and its this reluctant doggedness to right a wrong which keeps the pacing tight as they get ever closer to the truth.

It’s also worth mentioning the casting of the actors that play the teenage versions of the trio. While we only get to see their fight scenes through old VHS footage, there’s some solid skills on display, and that’s likely thanks to the presence of Power Rangers alumni Yoshi Sudarso and Peter Sudarso. Gui Da Silva-Greene rounds them out, a stuntman who’s doubled for the likes of John Boyega (Pacific Rim: Uprising) and Chadwick Boseman (Captain America: Civil War), as well as working on the likes of Wolf Warrior 2. The footage may be grainy, but it gives us the opportunity to see the Three Tigers in their unstoppable prime, and the distinctly early 90’s aesthetic will no doubt evoke a sense of nostalgia for audiences of a certain age.

While those looking for the kind of action found in the likes of the Martial Clubs YouTube shorts will no doubt come away from The Paper Tigers wanting, the action aesthetic perfectly compliments the story here, with each confrontation playing an integral part of the plot. While I enjoy a non-stop fight fest as much as the next guy, it’s an even rarer treat to find a movie that successfully integrates its fight scenes to both serve and progress the plot. Personally I’ll take the latter every time, with both the aforementioned The Empty Hands from Hong Kong and Hydra from Japan falling into a similar category, as it feels like a much more enriching experience when you’re emotionally invested in the outcome.

It would be a crime not to mention the master himself, played by Roger Yuan (yes, for those who have noticed, there are a lot of brothers in this movie!). Although for the most part we only get to see him in flashback scenes, he does open the movie in present day, and there’s something undeniably reassuring whenever you see Yuan pop up in a movie (plus, he was the best thing about John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, a role for which he wasn’t even credited!).

Overall The Paper Tigers is a resounding success in proving that a small budget is no obstacle when you have the right talent both in front and behind the camera. With his first full length feature Bao Tran has crafted a narrative where the story beats land just as effectively as the actions ones, and the result is a kung fu movie with genuine heart and characters who we can all relate to in some way. Hats off as well to Ken Quitugua for creating an action aesthetic that stays true to the context the story plays out in, creating action scenes which genuinely excite without foregoing the realistic tone. Plus, what other movie contains a line where a character is accused of “anal blindness”!? As a kung fu whodunnit, The Paper Tigers is an entertaining ride, as a story about friendship and reconnecting with the past, it’s one of the best.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8.5/10