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Thread: Wing Chun in the movies!

  1. #106
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    First forum review

    You'd think I'd like Warrior Nun. Kinda meh tho. Just watched the first ep. It's kinda Da Vinci Code (without the code) meets Jessica Jones (without a cool snarky Jessica). Maybe it works better for Catholics.

    Good to know that Warrior Nuns use Wooden dummies.

    I may watch more.

    There's crusader swords that glow like lightsabers, but no sword fights yet.

    Threads
    Warrior-Nun
    Wing-Chun-in-the-movies!
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  2. #107
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
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    47,946

    First forum review

    I think The Kung Fu Master was my first Malayalam film. This is Mollywood, not Bollywood. There was a lot of buzz about this production prior to the pandemic, then I lost track of it.

    It was surprisingly good. Not great but not bad.

    A martial arts gang terrorizes a city near the Himalayas. A Wing Chun master helps the cops identify some of the gang using his martial network. The gang kills his family. He and his sister walk the road of vengeance. Yeah, cliche, but it has enough of an angle on it to make it work even the 2 hour running time was excessive, especially at the beginning.

    The fights were okay. The lead Jiji Scaria definitely has some Wing Chun. There was a lot of buzz about how hard Neeta Pillai trained a year prior to filming, but that’s not much in martial years. Her forms suck but she can sell a punch and kick. The villains all seems to have some skills too. Almost the entire cast is credited as ‘introducing’ so for a first time effort, not bad.

    The backdrops are incredibly scenic because it’s the Himalayas. The Indian markets and buildings have vibrant local color. And the villains’ lairs are these architecturally interesting abandoned structures.

    Unlike most films, the heroes are beautiful. Neeta is cute but she has significant acne scarring, which you’d think they would’ve covered with makeup.

    Mollywood has this weird device where warnings in Malayalam appear in little boxes whenever something illegal is represented - this ranges from drug use (the main villain, who is very good at being bad, sniffs coke off his index finger - which is a dumb wasteful way to snort), to smoking, to riding motorcycles without helmets to seat belts notices whenever they rode in a car. That was distracting but I approve of the idea. It takes you out of the movie and reminds you that it’s bad.

    What I liked most was the general mercilessness of it. SPOILER ALERT when the villains kill the family, they bash in the skull of thr dad, kick a pregnant mom so hard she dies with blood bursting from her groin, and kill a little kid, although that’s off screen. When the heroes take revenge, they’re all in. Each villain is dispatched with angry glares and no hesitation. The heroes have no issues with brutally murdering everyone in the gang, some with some bone cracking coup de graces. END SPOILER

    No dance numbers - maybe that’s a Mollywood thing. This plays out like most Kung Fu films with three long fight scenes that escalate well enough. There’s too much time spent setting up what a lovely family it is and then emotional recovery, but once the fights start rolling, it’s tasty ultravi.

    THREADS
    The Kung Fu Master
    Wing Chun in Movies
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  3. #108
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    30

    Warriors Two

    This was one of my favorite Wing Chun Movies
    Finally Got my Sifu to share our Ngo Dac Na systematized training online.

    You can visit us on Youtube


    You can also find us at EnterShaolin.com

  4. #109
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    The Cinematic Legacy of Ip Man on Wing Chun

    Read The Cinematic Legacy of Ip Man on Wing Chun ~ my latest feature for YMAA.

    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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