Day 328: Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)

One of my all time favorite Jean Claude Van Damme films has always been Kickboxer not just because of how awesome Van Damme was, but also how cool Tong Po was too. In Hollywood, they are always remaking films and if you guessed it then the answer is yes. Our film for today’s Ass Whoopin Wednesdays is the new film Kickboxer: Vengeance. Eric Sloane (Darren Shahlavi) champions himself a really good fighter who has just won gold with the help of his little bro Kurt (Alain Moussi). Despite Kurt’s wishes, Eric travels to Thailand to take on Muay Thai champion Tong Po (Dave Bautista). Kurt will eventually go to see the fight, but when he does, he witnesses his brothers death in the ring. Kurt swears that he will get his revenge against Tong Po so he trains with a local Muay Thai trainer named Durand (Van Damme). The film also stars Gina Carano (Deadpool) as Marcia, Sara Malakul Lane (Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse) as Liu, Georges St-Pierre (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) as Kavi, T.J. Storm (Punisher: War Zone) as Storm, Hawn Tran (Heist) as Tran, Sam Medina (Keanu) as Crawford, MMA Fighter Cain Velasquez as King’s Fighter, and the film was directed by John Stockwell (Turistas). To see the stats and the rest of the review, please click here to go to Moshpits and Movies.

Day 251: Hard Target 2 (2016)

When I was a kid growing up, I was a huge fan of Jean Claude Van Damme and all of his films. I have been becoming a huge fan of Scott Adkins (Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear) as of late so when I saw that he was starring in Hard Target 2 which is the sequel to Van Damme’s film, I decided to watch it for Ass Whoopin Wednesdays. Wes Baylor (Adkins) is one of the best in Mixed Martial Arts, but when he kills his best friend in the ring during a match, he can’t handle the guilt so he quits. After disappearing and taking underground fights in Thailand, he is contacted by a business man offering him a big payday. There’s only one catch, he is to be hunted by a group of rich hunters. If he can make it to the border he lives, but if he doesn’t he dies. The film also stars Robert Knepper (Hitman) as Aldrich, Rhona Mitra (The Number 23) as Sofia, Temuera Morrison (Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge Of The Sith) as Madden, Ann Truong (Hunters) as Tha, Adam Saunders (Blue Water High) as Esparto, Peter Hardy (Chopper) as Jacob Zimling, Sean Keenan (Strangerland) as Tobias Zimling, and the film was directed by Roel Reiné (Death Race 2). To the see the rest of the review and all of the states, please click here to go to Moshpits and Movies. 

 

Day 167: The Medallion (2003)

For today’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday film, I searched the internet far and wide to find a film that peaked my interest. I settled on a Jackie Chan (Rumble In The Bronx) film that I had never seen in The Medallion. In the film Chan plays a Hong Kong detective named Eddie who is hot on the trail of a criminal named Snakehead (Julian Sands). When he gets close to Snakehead, he finds out that Snakehead is after the chosen one Jai (Alex Bao) for a medallion. After an accident finds him dead, Jai uses the medallion to bring him back to life and it turns him into a super warrior. Now with the help of Interpol agents, he has to stop Snakehead from getting his hands on it. The film also stars Lee Evans (The Fifth Element) as Arthur Watson, Claire Forlani (Green Street Hooligans) as Nicole James, John Rhys-Davies (The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring) as Cmdr. Hammerstock-Smythe, Anthony Chau-Sang Wong (The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor) as Lester, Christy Chung (The Defender) as Charlotte Watson, Johann Myers (Black Hawk Down) as Giscard, and the film was directed by Gordon Chan (Fist Of Legend). To see the rest of the review and see the stats, please click here to go to Moshpits and Movies. 

Day 141: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

The film I chose for today was one that for some odd and strange reason, I had avoided watching back when it was released. What motivated me to finally watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is tat the fact that Netflix released the sequel to the film this year and so I chose the original for today’s film. Chow Yun Fat (The Killer) stars as Li Mu Bai, a storied master and warrior in China who is trying to give up the lifestyle by relinquishing his famous and most storied sword The Green Destiny. After the sword is stolen, he is sent on a mission with another warrior in Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) to try and track down the notorious fugitive that they believe stole the sword. What they don’t bargain for is a young adolescent teenager who is the nobleman’s daughter that is highly skilled standing in there way because she is at a crossroads in her life. The film also stars Ziyi Zhang (Rush Hour 2) as Jen Yu, Chen Chang (The Assassin) as Lo “Dark Cloud”, Pei-Pei Cheng (They Wait) as Jade Fox, Sihung Lung (The Wedding Banquet) as Sir Te, Xian Gao (The Legend) as Bo, and the film was directed by Ang Lee (Life Of Pi).

I can certainly tell you that I am definitely happy that I checked out this film because it was definitely different than you average martial arts films. I say that because the martial arts was really only a part of the film and not the main focus. At least that’s how I feel in my opinion because it was more of a love story. Of course, the martial arts was a big part of the film, but it was much more poetic. Ziyi Zhang’s character is at a crossroads because she wants to follow her family’s wishes of getting married to who they arranged to her, but she is in love with someone else. It’s also kind of a coming of age story for her because she feels tat with the sword, she has great power, but she soon earns from Li Mu Bai that it’s much more than that and that she wasn’t really worthy of the sword. Of course the action scenes in the film are phenomenal and excellent to watch with all of the sword fighting, martial arts action. The flying through the air bits can be a little much to watch at times because it’s pure fantasy, but at the same time it was cool to see on the screen. It does add to the imagination and the beauty of their art by seeing that. The other great part about the film is the cinematography and the shots of the scenery are just beautiful to watch. The film is in Chinese, but never fear because there is subtitles. It’s available to watch on Encore Play and Encore. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade because I really enjoyed the film.

Day 132: IP Man 3 (2015)

For this week’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday, I wanted to finish something that i had started some months ago when I began watching a series about the famous Grandmaster Ip Man. Now I present to you what seems like the final film in the Wilson Yip (IP Man) directed series in IP Man 3. The film once again follows IP Man (Donnie Yen) as he is a lot older (because Bruce Lee is now a teenager), but not a lot has changed in Hong Kong since we last seen him. The city is now being run by a notorious boxing gangster named Frank (Mike Tyson) and he is trying to buy up all the schools in Hong Kong to try and close them down, but IP Man will not stand for it. IP Man also has to answer the challenge of a jealous Wing Chun master by the name of Cheung Tin-chi (Max Zhang) while also trying to take care of his sick wife (Lynn Hung). The film also stars Patrick Tam (Port Of Call) as Ma King-Sang, Karena Ng (Magic To Win) as Miss Hong, Kai-Chung Cheung (Keeper Of Darkness) as Chui Lek, Kent Cheng (IP Man 2) as Fatso, Ka-Yan Leung (The Man With The Iron Fists) as Master Tin, and Kwok-Kwan Chan (Kung Fu Hustle) as Bruce Lee. To see the rest of the review, please click here to go to Moshpits and Movies.

Day 125: Falcon Rising (2014)

It has been quite some time since the last Ass Whoopin Wednesday post that I did and like I promised it would return. Now the question was what film was I going to choose for the return and Falcon Rising caught my eye on Netflix. Michael Jai White (Tyson) stars as John ‘Falcon’ Chapman, a former Marine who is having a hard time adjusting to life after the military. One day after a visit from his sister Cindy (Laila Ali), he finds out that she was brutally beaten almost to death in Brazil. So, John travels down to Brazil to get to the bottom of it, but he’ll have to deal with the corruption that runs wild in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The film also stars Neal McDonough (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Manny Ridley, Lateef Crowder (Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice) as Carlo Bororo, Masashi Odate (Letters From Iwo Jima) as Hirimoto, Hazuki Kato (Muppets Most Wanted) as Tomoe, Millie Ruperto (Presumed Dead In Paradise) as Katarina Da’ Silva, Jimmy Navarro (Heroes From Another Land) as Thiago Santo, Daniel Cardona (The Preppie Connection) as Kuka, and the film was directed by Ernie Barbarash (Cube Zero).To see the rest of the review of the film and the stats, please visit my other blog here.

Day 90: IP Man: The Final Fight (2010)

We are continuing our theme of kick ass Kung Fu and we are continuing with the legendary IP Man (real name Yip Man) who was the master of Bruce Lee. I didn’t know what the connection this film had to the previous films I reviewed, but IP Man: The Final Fight is not part of that series. In this film, it’s post war China and we find IP Man (Anthony Chau-Sang Wong) arriving in Hong Kong where he sets up shop and begins to teach. One of IP Man’s pupils finds himself deep into the Hong Kong underworld while another finds himself in a fight with the Triads forcing IP Man to come back into action for one more fight. In the meantime, we see IP Man deal with various issues we haven’t seen before like his Gastric pain and the vicissitudes of life. The film also stars Eric Tsang (The Accidental Spy) as NG Chung, Gillian Chung (Blade Of Kings) as Chan Sei-mui,  Jordan Chan (Big Bullet) as Tang Shing, Zhou Chuchu (The Apostles) as Jenny, Xin Xin Xiong (Double Team) as Local Dragon, Luxia Jiang (True Legend) as Le King, Timmy Hung (New Police Story) as Leung Sheung, and the film was directed by Herman Yau (The Legend Is Born: Ip Man).If you want to check out the stats and read the rest of the review, please follow this link to my Moshpits and Movies page.

Day 83: IP Man 2 (2010)

For this week’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday film, I wanted to continue with the Ip Man series which follows the teacher of Bruce Lee, Yip Man. This time around in IP Man 2, Ip Man (Donnie Yen) is now in Hong Kong where he hopes to teach more Chinese about the beautiful art of Wing Chun by opening a martial arts school. Unfortunately, IP Man’s wishes are being sabotaged because the rules in Hong Kong are very different and all of the masters including Master Hung (Sammo Hung). Master Ip will have to endure some tough tests which includes gaining Master Hung’s respect. Soon though, the two will have to band together as a brute Brit name Twister (Darren Shahlavi) looks to disrespect the art of Chinese Boxing. The film also stars Xiaoming Huang (American Dreams In China) as Wong Shun-Leung, Lynn Hung (IP Man) as Cheung Wing-Sing, Kent Cheng (Once Upon A Time In China) as Fatso, Yu-Hang To (1911) as Cheng Wai-Kei, Charles Mayer (Ghosts Of Old Shanghai) as Superintendent Wallace, Ka-nin Ngo (Turning Point) as Leung Kan, Siu-Wong Fan (IP Man) as Jin Shan Zhao, Jiang Dai-Yan as a young Bruce Lee, and the film was directed by Wilson Yip (IP Man). If you want to continue reading the rest of the article, please follow this link to Moshpits & Movies.

Day 76: IP Man (2008)

For today’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday film, we turn to a true legend of Martial Arts  and the Kung Fu community in the film IP Man. IP Man is a semi-biographical look at the life of the man known as Yip Man, a true master of Wing Chun and the legendary teacher of Bruce Lee. In the town of Foshan, China, Martial Arts runs rampant with many schools and masters. There is one master of them all that chooses not to teach his brand of Wing Chun known as IP Man (Donnie Yen). He is modest and knows that he is the best, but he doesn’t flaunt it until things go bad in Foshan. The Japanese have taken over China and have made times desperate for the people of China. To protect a mill of workers and his family, he will finally teach his brand of Wing Chun, but will he battle the Japanese General? The film also stars Simon Yam (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life) as Chow Ching-Chuen, Siu-Wong Fan (Kung Fu Killer) as Jin Shan Zhao, Lynn Hung (IP Man 2) as Cheung Wing-Sing, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (Blues Harp) as Miura, Tenma Shibuya as Colonel Sato, Zhi-Hui Chen (Fearless) as Master Liu, Xing Yu (Kung Fu Hustle) as Master Zealot Lam, and the film was directed by Wilson Yip. To see all of the stats for the film and the rest of the review, please click here to go to Moshpits and Movies.

Day 48: Good Guys Wear Black (1978)

For today’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday film, I decided to check out another film from one of my favorite action stars in Chuck Norris (Missing In Action). I decided to check out one of the early Norris films in 1978’s Good Guys Wear Black which sees Norris as former special forces Major John T. Booker. The United States in the film was in the middle of peace talks with Vietnam, but for some reason they believed there were still POW’s. So, Booker along with his team known as The Black Tigers are sent on a mission, but everything goes wrong as the guys were set up. Fast forward five years later and everything is normal in Booker’s life until a reporter named Maggie (Anne Archer) shows up. The next thing you know, the surviving members of John’s team are being killed off one by one. So, John decides to investigate and get to the bottom of it before it’s curtains for him. The film also stars James Franciscus (Beneath The Planet of The Apes) as Conrad Morgan, Lloyd Haynes (The Greatest) as Murray Saunders, Dana Andrews (Laura) as Edgar Harolds, Soon-Teck Oh (The Man With The Golden Gun) as Mhin, and the film was directed by Ted Post (Magnum Force). To see the rest of the review of the film and check out all the cool stats please go here.