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.

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.

Top 10 Indie Fight Scenes of 2016

This is my personal list of the 10 best indie fight scenes of 2016.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrBxQ921i5Q
10. Bad Day


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3eXhmwEgEA
9. Wrong Way


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtccBEwWS4I
8. DO The Damn Thing Ultimate


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkh_3UtDHFU
7. Rush Hour 4, Not In A Rush


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGQ66xm-U6w
6. Bryan Cartago vs Micah Karns


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR6kQ5FHNZo
5. Nilo vs Ieisha


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YuNFzweaf4&t=4s
4. Craziest Jackie Chan Stunt


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEW5HBzxAhk
3. Redemption


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw1rP1FJN2Q
2. Osu 2


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrlPoVLQn8I
1. Unlucky Stars Finale

Ip Man 3 (2015, 2016)

Cheung vs Fighter: 2/5


Ip Man vs Thugs: N/R


School Fight: 4/5


Cheung vs Tin: 2.75/5


Shipyard Fight: 4/5


Ip Man vs Thai Boxer: 4/5


Ip Man vs Frank (Mike Tyson): 3.75/5


Cheung Fight Montage: 2.5/5


Ip Man vs Cheung: 4.5/5


Man I loved this film. I kind of thought the Ip Man films would go the way of the Rocky films where they would just get cheesier and lose focus, while remaining entertaining. I mostly thought that due to the inclusion of Mike Tyson. But this might've been the most grounded movie of all of them.

There's a ton of great action in this one and a lot of great themes. There's a lot of focus on Ip Man and his wife's relationship, and I really dug that. I feel their relationship always played 3rd or 4th fiddle to Ip Man's quests but here it's highlighted throughout the film. A lot of emotional depth here.

The Tyson fight scene over delivered. I was expecting it to be the worst thing in the whole trilogy and it was surprisingly good, reminiscent of Bruce Lee and Kareem-Abdul Jabbar from Game Of Death. Tyson threw in some really cool boxing head movement which made his character seem more dynamic and cinematically eye pleasing.

The finale sees the one thing this entire trilogy had been missing. A big time Wing Chun vs Wing Chun fight. And it delivers. I'd probably rank it in the top 3 fights of the entire trilogy, and arguably #1. It's a classic.

Loved this movie. Highly recommended.

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Avengers vs Crossbones n Crew: 3.5/5


Cap/Bucky vs Panther/Cops: 3.75/5


Bucky vs The World: 3.75/5


Airport Scene: 4.75/5


Iron Man vs Cap/Bucky: 4/5




This movie is excellent. As far as action goes, the airport scene is the best action scene in the history of superhero films. That's no hyperbole, I think that's going to be universally agreed on. That scene alone is worth the price of admission. And yet, every other action scene is good to great. In terms of action, this film can't be beat.

But I love it as a movie too. The characterization, the performances...this is an all around excellent film. The Russo brothers are masters of their craft. I'm not even a comic book fan, but between Spiderman, Black Panther and Ant-Man there were so many fun new interactions between these characters. And everyone was made to look good in this movie, everyone had something to do. Even Scarlet witch!

I can't decide if this or Avengers is the best MCU movie ever. They're both in my top 3 superhero movies of all time as it stands.

I love this movie. Highly recommended.

Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens (2015)

Fin vs Storm Trooper: 2.5/5


Kylo Ren vs Fin: 2.5/5


Kylo Ren vs Rey: 3/5



Look, no one is going to watch this movie based on my recommendation. Everyone reading this has seen it, I'm sure. This was a good flick, I liked it. The lightsaber fights were solid, if nothing special. I enjoyed Kylo Ren and Rey, although Rey was definitely overpowered. Maybe the most OP force user ever. And the Raid guys were wasted in a dumb sequence.

But I enjoyed the movie overall. Recommended.

The Princess Bride (1987)

Westley vs Inigo: 4.5/5


Westley vs Fezzik: DUD


Inigo vs Guards/Count Rugen: 3/5




This is one of my all time favorite movies. The duel between Westley and Inigo is classic stuff, and serves as a basis for how I view fight scenes in film generally. Inigo's revenge against Rugen, though not a technically great fight, is brilliantly satisfying.


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Not for the fights, just as a movie.