The Night Comes For Us (2018)

Arian vs Thugs: ***

Ito vs Butchers: ***1/4

Apartment Brawl: ***1/4

Ito vs Cops: ***

Elena Hallway Fight: ***1/4

Alma Stairwell Fight: **1/2

Ito vs Operator: ***1/2

Ito vs Thugs in Warehouse: ***3/4

Operator vs Alma/Elena: ***3/4

Ito vs Arian: ****1/2





This movie is so violent! It's brutal in a similar fashion to the Raid movies but with even more blood and gore. This is visceral and not for the faint of heart.

Seeing Iko in the role of an antagonist was really interesting here. He carried himself with such composure throughout, and seemed to have a blast playing the final boss. His performance was reminiscent of the end bosses from the 80's Hong Kong era; suit wearing psychopaths with unbridled martial skill.

There's a lot of really good action throughout, but I would say the level of violence mars it a little. It becomes numbing after a while and by the end feels like they have to keep topping themselves in how violent the kills are. One area the violence works however, is the final fight. It's the best thing in the film, unsurprising given how skilled Iko is, but Joe Taslim is excellent as well. The violence in that clash escalates in a meaningful way as the two former brothers fight tooth and nail. Iko's character Arian, who'd been so dominant and composed throughout, begins to fall apart at the seams as Taslim's character Ito fights on relentlessly. It's a thing of violent beauty.

Taslim was the sergeant in the Raid but here he really gets to show what he can do. His character seems to have endless stamina but his rugged brawler style (mixed with his Judo background) makes him feel grounded. The stuntmen worked their asses of in this flick and it shows. The one shot they tried from a first person perspective didn't really land, unfortunately, but it was a neat idea.

Julie Estelle was really cool in this movie. Her clash with Hannah Al Rashid's "Elena" at the end was especially good. Really hope she sticks around in the genre.

Recommended.

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.

Nightshooters (2018)

Donnie vs Thugs: ***1/2

Donnie vs Asian/White Thug: ***3/4

Donnie vs Asian Thug: ****1/4

Donnie vs Black Thug: ****1/4





There was true suspense in this movie and the setup for the heroes' plight and fight for survival was clever and well reasoned. The stakes felt real as they establish multiple times throughout the movie that a happy ending is not necessarily guaranteed. The villains are charismatic as well as ruthless.

There are little character moments that the actors get that I really enjoyed, which helps because the downside to this type of cat and mouse go-go action style is the characters are not very fleshed out. The sound guy's acting stands out as really good, however. They kind of set up the lead actor character as one to be redeemed but he does almost nothing through the movie.

The highlight is definitely the action and use of explosives. Jean-Paul Ly is becoming one of my favorite modern screen fighters. He looked even better here than in Jailbreak.

Really dug this. Highly recommended.