Stylistically, both the characters and the action sequences (under the direction of Jennifer Yuh Nelson) have been pushed further, incorporating elements of traditional Chinese folk art
with kung fu movie posters and flashes of glittery Japanese animation.
Not exact matches
John Woo, for example — who Chan last worked
with more than 30 years ago, when both were doing cheap
kung -
fu movies — is an old hand at this kind of neo noir.
It follows the same basic plot of any misfit sports
movie, From The Longest Yard to The Bad News Bears to Victory, only this time
with soccer and special effects type
kung fu.
Powell is refreshingly forthright in his assessment of
kung fu movies and Chinese cinema at large, and he does little to hide his frustration
with certain aspects of production.
Each of the interactions between these two
kung fu movie icons is gold, and
with nary a punch or kick between them.
At times it looked like we were in some sort of
kung -
fu action
movie as we defeated the strange creatures of Phantasy Star; what's up
with all the chick - like things anyway?
The third
movie in this franchise begins
with the tortoise
kung fu master, Grand Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim, John Wick, 2014), being ambushed in an after - life setting known as the «spirit realm.»
Still, families of younger children (or those prone to mimicking
movies) need to be aware that the
kung fu moves are almost constant in this script,
with characters being kicked, punched, singed by flames and pushed down stairs.
My personal take: I enjoy the spoofs on old
kung fu flicks and admire Oedekirk's inventiveness when it comes to injecting the
movie with visual humor, but I shook my head far, far more than I smiled at some very terrible, juvenile jokes.
Plus, having worked in the action
movie industry in Hong Kong for the last 15 years as both an actor and martial arts choreographer on over 35 film and television productions afforded me not only the skill set to confidently film a
kung fu movie, I have also worked
with many people who were close
with Bruce and shared
with me many of their anecdotes.
If you like
kung fu movies such a Five Deadly Venoms, Kid
with the Golden Arm, or, even the more modern, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and want to read the literature that inspired these
movies, you're in the right place.
Pirate101 can be quite the charmer
with its polished visuals, from the authentic pirate costumes to the
kung -
fu action sequences when a character hits a critical blow to the memorable quest NPCs that could have been plucked from the zany Pirates of the Caribbean
movies.»
The experience condenses a
movie trope, in melodramatic
kung -
fu scenes, and gives you control over all of the excitement
with nary a learning curve.