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THE
AVENGING FIST
AKA:
Fight Zone ||
Legend Of Tekken || The Legend Of The Fist Master
Year:
2001 Reviewer: Tony
Ryan
The
hype surrounding this feature has been going on for at least 2
years. It was originally slated as a live-action Tekken movie,
but original producer Wong Jing forgot to ask permission to
make such a film. In the end, and after a variety of name
changes (HKL will apparently release this on DVD as 'Fight
Zone') we are left with a typical CGI-filled Andrew Lau film,
with more emphasis on pretty visuals than action or drama.
I
have been waiting for this film so long, on the basis of it
being a worthy Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung vehicle that I
couldn’t fail to be disappointed. Biao and Hung are
criminally underused, and I have no particular fondness for
pretty boys Fung or Wang. In essence, the film is a convoluted
homage to sci-fi classics like Blade Runner and The Fifth
Element – or at least it looks like it. The looks are
seemingly more important than any plot structure to Andrew Lau
and it is starting to become annoying that he won’t learn
from his past mistakes. Fantastic visuals are one thing, but
being flooded with them at the expense of everything else just
numbs the viewer leaving little room for excitement or empathy
so important to great films. I only hope that he will strike a
good balance as time goes by.
I
don’t hate the film, I am just very disappointed. Yuen Kwai
as assistant director brings little sensibility to the
proceedings and his choreography is merely a pivot upon which
the CGI is placed. Maybe he didn’t want to put his foot
down, but I wish he did! On his own, he has directed some
classic fight flicks and visually impressive features, and I
expect more from his new film 'So Close' than is on offer
here.
I
love Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung which really rubs salt into the
wounds – but I have still given the film 3 stars on the
basis that if you expect a beautiful style over substance film
then it will entertain you – and in my eyes it is an
improvement over Storm
Riders which was equally substance free but where even the
CGI looked out of place.
It
will be interesting to see how HKL's DVD will perform
commercially given the time the film has had to develop bad
word of mouth. However, I will undoubtedly still purchase it
on the basis of a plethora of infinitely more interesting
extra features. The VCD from which this review is written
contained a decent picture, but it is DVD where the fabulous
visuals and sound will impress most.
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