Bad Blood a.k.a. King Of Triads (2010)

Prison Break Out: 3.25/5


Dumby vs Calf: 3.75/5


Dumby vs Thugs: 2.5/5


Dumby vs A lot of Thugs: 3.5/5


Calf vs Kong: 4.25/5


Calf/Dumby vs Zen, Hung & Thugs: 4/5


Audrey vs 6 Thugs: 3.5/5


Audrey vs Funky: 4/5


Dumby vs Guards: 4/5


Dumby vs Audrey: 3.75/5



What a fun little gem this was. Andy On puts in a hell of a performance as Calf, and Bernice Liu as Audrey is one badass bitch. Simon Yam is great as always. Ken Lo and the legendary Xiong Xin Xin round out a stellar overall cast.

The performance that surprised me the most was Luxia Jiang as Dumby, a mute girl that Calf takes under his wing to train in martial arts. Not only was her screen fighting very good, but since her character couldn't speak all of her acting was in her face and mannerisms. I adored her, she was impossible to not like.

Bernice Liu's transformation in this movie is something else. She goes from wide eyed, innocent damsel in distress to lethal femme fatale with a simple haircut and application of dark lipstick. But it's not just the cosmetic, she carries herself completely differently in the second half of this movie. It's like she's not even the same person as before. She was truly great.

As the ratings suggest, I really enjoyed the fighting in this movie. The fights, especially in the second half, always carry a sense of real danger to them. A lot of cool knife work in this movie, and Andy On is especially great in his fight scenes. I used to think he was just a pretty boy, but he really trained himself into one hell of a screen fighter, and he flourishes in this movie.

If I had one complaint it's that there isn't one fight between evenly matched combatants. Every fight is pretty one sided in one way or another. I would've liked to see a fight where it wasn't completely obvious who the better person was. Interestingly, the movie doesn't give us that fight in the form of what probably would have been Audrey vs Calf, and I can't tell you why because it would be a spoiler (7 years later).

Also, I will admit the pacing of this movie is a bit strange for western eyes. I'm used to it because of how these movies have been paced in Hong Kong for years, but if you're new to the genre, it might feel rushed to you.

I liked this movie quite a bit. Recommended.