Project A II (1987)

Dragon vs Cops: 3.25/5


Dragon & Crew vs Thugs: 4.25/5


Dragon vs Tiger & henchman: 3.75/5


Pirates Chasing Dragon/Chung: 4/5


Finale: 4.25/5



What a great film. Recommended.

Fist Of Legend (1994)

Chen vs Karate Students: 3/5


Ting vs Ngai: 3/5


Chen vs Dojo Students: 4/5


Chen vs Akugatawa: 3.5/5


Battle At Jingwu: 3.75/5


Chen vs Ting: 4.75/5


Chen vs Funakochi: 4.75/5


Ting vs Fujita: 3.75/5


Chen vs Fujita: 5/5



One of the greatest martial arts films ever made. Yuen Woo Ping, one of the best fight choreographers ever, was at the peak of his game here. This is not only his, but also Jet Li's magnum opus. The final fight is one of my favorite fights of all time, an easy 5 stars. I can't say enough good things about this masterpiece. Just go watch it.

HIGHLY Recommended.

Armor Of God (1986)

Jackie vs Natives: 1.75/5


Jackie vs Monks: 4.75/5


Jackie vs Assassins: 4/5




This is a great action film. Not in the upper echelon of Jackie's movies, but still great nonetheless. Jackie fighting the monks is one of the best group fights you'll ever see.

Recommended.

Ip Man 2 (2010)

Ip Man vs Wong: 2.75/5


Ip Man vs 3 Dudes: 2.5/5


Wong vs Martial Artist: 2.75/5


Ip Man/Wong vs Gang: 3.25/5


Ip Man vs Law: 2.25/5


Ip Man vs Cheng: 3/5


Ip Man vs Hung: 4/5


Twister vs Hung: 3.75/5


Ip man vs Twister: 4.25/5



This is a great film. Ip Man is Donnie Yen's best role. Good fighting throughout, with 2 great fights that make the whole film worthwhile.

It's kind of hilarious how evil the foreigners act. This is a very "Ra Ra China!" movie. Though that's a fairly common trope among Chinese martial arts films, it was especially noticeable in this.

The final fight is so great. I really dig the music backing it. The choreography blending the styles together, Ip man overcoming the odds, using Sammo's moves...really well done. I'm also a huge fan of limb destruction in fight scenes, so Ip Man's comeback was especially cool to me.

As good as the first movie. Recommended.

Chinese Zodiac a.k.a. CZ12 a.k.a. Armor of God 3 (2012)

Dock fight: 1.75/5


Team JC vs Pirates: 2.25/5


JC vs Vulture: 4.25/5


JC vs henchmen: 3.75/5


Katie vs Bonnie: 3/5



This is not the best Jackie Chan movie ever. It's not even in the top 30, probably. It does have its fun moments, though. It's better than most of the Hollywood stuff he's done. And at least it's a true Jackie Chan Hong Kong film. So for that alone, I enjoyed it.

There isn't a whole lot of fighting in the first 75% of it. The fighting at the tail end of the movie is great though, and is true Jackie Chan creative and at times comedic choreography. There's also a fight between two female characters that is pretty cool. This 15 minute chunk is by far the highlight of the film. Many other plot points and action sequences just don't click and the comedy is very hit or miss.

Mildly Recommended. VERY Mildly.

Ip Man (2008)

Ip Man vs Liu: 2.25/5


Northerner vs Master: 2.75/5


Northerner vs Weapons Master: 2.75/5


Northerner vs Liu: 3/5


Northerner vs Ip Man: 3.75/5


Liu vs Black belt: 2/5


General vs Lin and Two Men: 2/5


Liu vs 3 black belts: 2.5/5


Ip Man vs 10 Black Belts: 4.25/5


Ip Man vs Soldiers: 2/5


Factory Fight: 3.5/5


Ip Man vs General: 4/5




Great movie. Donnie Yen's best role. Recommended.

SPL 2: A Time For Consequences (2015)

Chatchai vs Kit: 3/5


Prison Riot Fight: 3.5/5


Ah-zai vs Cops: 2.25/5


Kit, Wah & Chatchai vs henchmen: 3/5


Kit vs Ah-zai: 3.25/5


Fight in the Dark: 2.75/5


Kit & Chatchai vs henchmen & Ko Chun: 3.75/5



A lot of people compare this movie to The Raid 2. I don't quite see it. The Raid 2 is an excellent sequel to an excellent movie. SPL 2 is a good sequel to a good movie. I guess the tones are similar as well as both movies featuring a cop going undercover and also being in a prison when a prison fight breaks out. But that's about where it ends.

I gotta say, this is the best Tony Jaa movie since Ong Bak 2 (not counting Furious 7). It might even be his best work, overall. As an actor and a screen fighter, he's one of the better parts of the film. Wu Jing is also great. A better actor than Jaa, but towards the end of his screen fighting prime, he carries the film's emotional weight.

There are a bunch of good fights in this movie, but not one truly great fight. There's also some suspect use of wire fu. Considering this is a modern crime film, seeing guys fly through the air can be jarring. Jing and Jaa square off in the first fight and it's solid stuff, if a bit short. The prison fight is also good with a lot of moving parts and long takes. I do slightly prefer The Raid 2's prison fight, though.

The knife vs nightstick fight towards the end, clearly an homage to Wu Jing vs Donnie Yen in one of the best fights of all time from the first SPL, is not in the same league as the original. It's a good fight, it only suffers by comparison. However, when "store the sun" plays in the minutes leading up to that, I got real excited. That's one of the more iconic fight scene themes ever, to me.

Let's talk about Max Zhang, the Big Bad of this flick. He's quite good here. The main problem I have with him, and his part in the finale, is the wire work. A pet peeve of mine is when a character is a lot stronger than the others, seemingly only because he's fighting on wires while they are not. Jaa and Jing are kicking ass the whole movie with straight Muay Thai and Wushu. Zhang's flying around throwing wire kicks. But that's not his fault.

The finale is the best fight in the movie. Jaa taking out the henchmen is some of the better choreography I've seen all year. It's also such a breath of fresh air to see Muay Thai used in a modern, Hong Kong action film. Wu Jing plays such a good hero, night and day from his original SPL character. One thing this movie does well is have the heroes always fighting from underneath. Jing and Jaa are beat to hell by the time they have to take on Zhang.

The best part of the finale is when Jaa squares off with Zhang. Jaa attempts Muay Thai moves he's been using effectively the whole movie and Zhang has a counter for all of them. Such smart choreography. Because of course, Zhang has seen Jaa fight before, so he has that advantage. It devolves after that, though. The 2 on 1 stuff has more wire fu and unfortunately the fight has an implausible conclusion. There's also a weird side part with Jaa's daughter that felt unnecessary.


It's a solid action movie with some really good parts. All in all, Mildy Recommended.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)

Shu Lien vs Sword Thief: 3.25/5


Jade Fox & Sword Thief vs Bo, May, Tsai & Mu Bai: 3.25/5


Sword Thief vs Mu Bai: 3/5


Inn Fight: 3.5/5


Shu Lien vs Jen: 4.25/5


Jade Fox Ambush:  N/R



Goddamn I love this movie. I thought I'd look back on it and think less of it. No sir. A bunch of good fights and one GREAT fight. I'd have to check, but Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi's duel may be my favorite Woman vs Woman fight of all time. It's certainly up there. And it's also one of my favorite weapons fight of all time.

This is one of the few martial arts films nominated for Best Picture. And it's quite deserving. I'm not as big a fan of weapons fights or the Wuxia genre, but this is a beautiful film, and the acting is terrific. Yuen Woo Ping's choreography is on point. And Michelle Yeoh is exceptional.


Highly Recommended.

Dragon Tiger Gate (2006)

Tiger vs Gangsters & Dragon: 3.5/5


Dragon/Turbo vs Gangsters: 2.25/5


Kun vs Double Devils/Gangsters: NR


Dragon vs Double Devils/Gangsters: 3/5


Shibumi vs The Gate: 3.25/5


Shibumi vs Tiger/Turbo: 3.5/5


Shibumi vs Dragon: 4/5



How much hair product was in the budget for this movie? Anyway, this is a solid action flick. And it features the most one sided final battle (for the hero) I can remember. Donnie Yen's "Dragon" gets hit once in the course of the entire film. Unheard of for a kung fu protagonist. It's strange because Tiger and Turbo get some shine early on in the movie but become afterthoughts for the rest of it. It's all about Dragon. In fairness, Donnie Yen is the best screen fighter of the 3, but still, I expected Tiger to get more to do considering his name is in the title of the film.

The action is solid throughout but let me get to this final fight. Shibumi, who is one of the most strongly written badass martial arts villains in modern film, gets absolutely owned by Dragon. It's insane. Before this, we get to watch Shibumi do things like work over a Guinness World Record setting heavy bag, crush Master Wong to death, and just generally be awesome at everything. Then Dragon shows up, and Shibumi is completely outclassed. Normally in a martial arts film, the hero has to fight from underneath and overcome. Shibumi NEVER LANDS A HIT on Dragon. Dragon slaps him around about 50 times.

Now, let me also say, I really liked the fight. See the above score. The reason I rated it so highly is because the first minute of the fight features some of the best handwork choreography Donnie's ever done. It's so fast, sharp and fluid. Also I love how once Shibumi gets palm thrusted into a wall he looks up and says, "18 Dragon Slaying Palms?" like it's some mythical technique he'd only heard legends of.

Now normally, after that initial protagonist flurry the villain would start to take control and dominate. But nope. Dragon continues to slap Shibumi around for the rest of the fight. Shibumi gets zero offense until the end. And the ending gets a little ridiculous. Sometimes less is more. I actually would've rated this higher but the lack on drama due to Dragon's dominance takes it down a little for me. I wonder if Donnie's intention was to subvert the norm by having the hero just clean the floor with the big bad. I don't know.


Anyway, this is a solid flick, though not a must unless you're a Donnie Yen completist. Mildly Recommended.

Yellow Zone (2012)

Andy Long vs Khoi Chau: 3/5



Andy Long vs Can Aydin: 4.5/5



That 80's Hong Kong style fight Andy and Can pull off shows that they would've fit in nicely back then. It's so good. And the tribute to Millionaire's Express at the end is terrific. And you get to see Andy do a Jackie Chan Police Story stunt during the credits. What's not to love?

Mister a.k.a. Xian Sheng (2015)

Lorenz vs Felix: 4/5


They're back! Sweet. The first Young Masters project to be released since I had the pleasure of meeting Lorenz on my birthday two Decembers back. A tribute to "The Man From Nowhere", which is awesome in its own right, the brothers bring an even greater martial ability to their tribute to that film. Recommended.

Project A (1983)

Sailors vs Police: 2.75/5

Lobby Fight: 3.25/5

Bike Fight: 4/5

Jackie & Sammo vs Thugs: 3/5

Clocktower fight: 2/5

Finale: 3.75/5


Don't let the ratings fool you, this is a fun movie. There just aren't that many substantial fight scenes. A lot of it is chasing. The Finale pits Dick Wei against the 3 Dragons, which is a blast. Movies with all 3: Jackie, Sammo and Yuen... are rare. So this is a lot of fun. There just isn't that much fighting.

The Bike fight/chase however, is inventive and funny. I very much enjoyed it. And Jackie pulls off an amazing Clocktower stunt too. Worth the buy. Recommended.