Kung Fu Games

I really do not understand the overly negative, borderline hateful reviews here - after seeing them I went into this movie with low expectations, expecting a potentially painful experience (I'm not even a Kung Fu fan!), and I mean it when I say I GENUINELY, had a really great time from start to finish! It was truly a fun time! It left me feeling like they had somehow seen a different movie than me.

Sure, the plot is not exactly unexplored territory, but isn't this film supposed to be an homage to its namesake/genre? It seems to me it did that well - fun fight scenes, a little heart and levity mixed in, a plot and setting that was an interesting and enjoyable vehicle for cool fighting and interesting characters. It did its job!

Don't let these reviews scares you. I never write reviews and the vitriol in these contrasted with what I watched really compelled me to take the time to do this one. You should ignore these and give the movie a go -- I laughed, I cheered and overall had a great time which is all I really ask of a movie!

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised. The nods and homages to classic Kung Fu movies are a fun add to an older style action movie. The fights were solid, the cinematography was crisp and clean, and then narrative was fun and engaging.

I've read some complaints around the fact that there wasn't enough fight scenes, but to be real, it was kind of nice to get a breath in and some character development instead of one, long, breathless fight scene that I think can be a bit exhausting.

All-in-all, I thought it was a lot of fun, a great movie to pop on with friends and cheer through. A great popcorn flick that will fill the need for those of us that loved 90's/00's actions movies that didn't need to be super serious or relentless to be enjoyable.

Peace,

This is one of those movies that I was worried I'll be sad I won't be able to get the time spent back. My worries were confirmed. The plot was stupid, the fighting choreography was average at best and some of the action will only be acceptable by the mentally challenged. Women gets slashed in the back with a live Katana (she's visually in pain), and a few scenes latter her partner is like "you o.k.?" She says "yeah." The same thing happens later when she gets shot in the shoulder (the bullet went straight through) and her response is the same "yeah I'm o.k." After suffering through this mess, you are greeted with one of the most putrid endings in movie history. This seems to be a farce of real martial arts and actions movies. Clearly the people who put this out didn't have any friends to tell them this was bad idea.

So this was the last of the 4 movies released in a short span of time by this company name Tiger Style Media. I am assuming all 4 movies were filmed at the same time (or close to each other) so they could be released as a bundle kinda.

The last one was Lady Scorpions starring Martial Arts Legend Cynthia Rothrock but also Caitlin Dechelle wich is also starring in this one. I praised Miss Dechelle on her last movie for both fights/action and acting despite the shortcomings on the movie.

In this movie, altough she wasn't bad by any mean, she could not showcase anything. She had limited acting scenes and the fights were kinda underwhelming. And that goes for all the cast.

But i am getting ahead of myself. Lets start by the beginning.

So the cast is thrown into this "place" for lack of a better word wich is reminiscent of various movies where you see a bunch of peoples not knowing each others being thrown into a situation. Ok. They have to escape some kind of "capsule" and are thrown into an hostile environement where the first fight is waiting for them.

Overall the movie start as generic as it can be. It does give you more informations on all the protagonist as it move along, but its never enough to make you care for them by any means.

Remember the movie Predators by Robert Rodriguez? The third movie in the Predator franchise? They were a bunch of strangers thrown into an hostile environement and had to work together against the Predators... Despite that movie not being as good as the original, it still had its merit, and i got into the cast because i got to know them and care for them. In this one, i never really cared for anyone much.

Im not gonna go into details on everyone roles but more or less they all competent fighters who have to go from room to room to beat some bad guys and survive while being filmed and some voice tell them what to do. Yes this as been done to death. One of the movie that came to my mind while watching it was Tai Chi Master with Keanu Reeves.

There is nothing original in the story, its the same reharsh you seen before and just a pretext to some martial arts. The bad guy is extremely forgivable.

So you follow your cast of "heroes" and they fights, but yet you never really care that much for anyone as none of them appear that interesting. Mike the SAS veteran is probably the most compelling character, trying to rally everyone as a unit, but still i kinda didn't cared..

But what about the fights? Thats what matter right? Well they ain't anything special. They ain't terrible, but they never really look like they pack a punch. They just happen and look like some generic fight choreographies. This is no Isaac Florentine movie ...

Ultimately it kinda was a throw away movie that i just didn't cared... Even tough the stakes were high technically (they fough for their lives), there was no compelling bad guy, no compelling backstory to our heroes, no reason for me to wish they make it, and it sadden me to say it.

I have a feeling the peoples behind these 4 movies are passionate for Martial Arts and wanted to make something fun for fans like me, but it didn't really connected, despite a good effort from the cast.

I think the first thing to blame were the poor scripts, especially this one, but also a lack of vision in direction to make the fights hard hitting and compelling.

Looking back i think i was a bit too lenient on the other movies because of my love for martial arts or the cast (Cynthia Rothrock and Caity Lotz), and altough im not gonna change my ratings, ill give that one a 5 out of 10. Because its as average as it can be. And if you read this out of Letterboxd it will get the yellow heart but only because it didn't bored me, even if its very generic. But i can't give it a 6 out of 10 cause i feel it was the weaker script of the 4 movies.

Now maybe i am bold saying this, but i think i could make a better script in a few months. Im no director, no fights choreographer, no martial artist (exept on very amateur level), but i could write a compelling script with interesting characters. Maybe it wouldn't be the most original script ever, but peoples would care for these characters, and ultimately, its the biggest fault i saw in this movie, i just didn't care for them.

That said, i always welcome more Martial Arts movie, and as harsh as this review could seem (i had to be honest), i didn't hate this movie by any means. I hope this company make more, but please get better writers and don't hesitate to contact me, ill be happy to help you and for FREE !

This is SO bad that it physically hurts!

Why in the world would any grown up person participate in such junk!

The acting, the story, it's so painful to watch!

I lasted 3 minutes, then I just had to go and wash my face. It's like small children at the age of 5 playing something after just having watched some stupid kung-fu movie.

"Kung Fu Games" is a lackluster attempt at a martial arts film that fails to deliver on every front. With its uninspired performances, poor choreography, and a convoluted plot, it's a movie best avoided. Save your time and money for something that actually entertains.