Revenger (2018)

Beach Fight: ***3/4

Yool vs Thugs in House: ****

Yool vs Thug Leader: ***1/2

Brawl at Camp: ***

Yool vs Thugs at Camp: ***1/2

Yool vs Kun's Lieutenants: ***3/4

Yool vs Kun: ****1/2





Bruce Khan is an absolute badass in this movie. He carries the action throughout with a stoic poise and executes the fight scenes with graceful brutality and quiet rage. This is one of the better lead screen fighting performances I've seen in a while. Khan is fast, crisp and efficient.

Khan's character, Yool, is also booked incredibly strong throughout. He marches through hordes of thugs with less resistance than a waist deep tide. He is briefly taken out of commission after tanking a poisoned arrow to save the little girl, Jin. He then wakes up and immediately outclasses two mini bosses 1 v 2. Even the final showdown is incredibly one sided. For as much build up as Park Hee Son's "Kun" gets for being this big villain, he doesn't do much damage at all to Yool in the finale and it never seems in doubt that Yool will win, let alone survive.

That being said, I instill enjoyed the finale quite a bit. It was modern and inventive in its incorporation of mixed martial arts into the choreography, and I also enjoyed the sequence where Kun tries to use feints and level changes to throw Yool off. The stuntmen in the group fights also did a hell of a job. The hits and falls they took felt grounded and conveyed Khan's power and skill.

Movie itself is a bit thin in terms of plot but there are some fun characters. Kun is an intriguing villain, his lieutenants are distinct and quirky, Mali and her daughter are solid as the heart of the film and Bau is your typical comedic relief.

Recommended.