THE AVENGING FIST follows many modern-day Chinese films by having a central cast of young, attractive actors and chucking in a couple of old hands in minor scenes. The old hands this time around are former sparring partners Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, who both made many fantastic films during the 1980s. Here, they're relegated to minor, almost demeaning parts (certainly in Sammo's case) but nevertheless turn out to be the best things in the movie.
The plot to this is a muddled and confused one, in which there are lots of clichéd genre elements mixed together. There's a central father-turned-evil storyline lifted straight from STAR WARS that vies for attention with some Nazi-style bad guys (are there any other?), a well-animated but inexplicable CGI beastie, tournament battles, hover boards and a Power Glove that gives its wearer lots of, well, power. The storyline really only exists to hang together a load of disparate action scenes, which are chock full of computer wizardry, mainly of the MATRIX type – slow motion, cameras spinning round. There are lots of pretty colours too but it all becomes headache inducing (rather than cool) after about five minutes.
The young cast are bland and uninspiring, and once again there are no up-and-comers to look out for; nobody here shines. The best actor is Yuen Biao, appearing either behind a silver mask or as a hologram for much of the movie, and he does get to kick ass in a couple of scenes; undoubtedly these are the best in the film. Sammo is present in a sadly non-fighting role as a police detective whose watch tells him how long he's got left to live! Other than the appearance of these genre stalwarts, THE AVENGING FIST is a crashing bore.
The plot to this is a muddled and confused one, in which there are lots of clichéd genre elements mixed together. There's a central father-turned-evil storyline lifted straight from STAR WARS that vies for attention with some Nazi-style bad guys (are there any other?), a well-animated but inexplicable CGI beastie, tournament battles, hover boards and a Power Glove that gives its wearer lots of, well, power. The storyline really only exists to hang together a load of disparate action scenes, which are chock full of computer wizardry, mainly of the MATRIX type – slow motion, cameras spinning round. There are lots of pretty colours too but it all becomes headache inducing (rather than cool) after about five minutes.
The young cast are bland and uninspiring, and once again there are no up-and-comers to look out for; nobody here shines. The best actor is Yuen Biao, appearing either behind a silver mask or as a hologram for much of the movie, and he does get to kick ass in a couple of scenes; undoubtedly these are the best in the film. Sammo is present in a sadly non-fighting role as a police detective whose watch tells him how long he's got left to live! Other than the appearance of these genre stalwarts, THE AVENGING FIST is a crashing bore.