Deadly Target

I saw 'Deadly Target' in a hotel room in Zhuhai, China. Evidently, Cinemax Asia has no budget for films that have been made by anyone actually in the film business. 'Deadly Target' is an instant classic for those of us who are connoisseurs of terrible films. The name itself is a give-away as to what is in store: atrocious acting, directing, writing, fighting, etc. etc. 'Deadly Target' may be the actual nadir of film possibilities. I loved the train-wreck of it all. The best part is that the usual homoerotic undertones of buddy-cop movies are so misplaced in this film that the sexual chemistry is hotter between the mismatched police 'partners' (pun intended) than between the pseudo-Adonis Aussie and his unattractive female Asian lover. It would have made a great gay-friendly comedy. Sadly, we have one less good comedy and one more crappy Cinemax hotel offering.

.......Nor particularly noteworthy on the filmographic CV of Gary Daniels sadly, although he does at least get to show off some pretty cool martial arts moves. Unfortunately, the film carries an ominous air of boredom to it throughout; It's almost as though no one involved had any faith in the production from the very start as evidenced by the lazy performances, generally bland action sequences (for a PM production) and a meandering 'plot' which goes no where.

There's really very little to recommend this in fact other than for Daniels completists who may at least derive some welcome enjoyment from his aforementioned fighting skills. For a much better PM vehicle starring our Gary, check out instead the OTT and outrageous, Rage and also Riot - both much, much better flicks.

I have only two things to say about this Gary Daniels farce of a film.

One, the fighting in this movie is ridiculous. True, the fighters are all real martial artists and their moves are very good. They are all trained and their techniques look good. However, one must ask: how many times can someone get kicked in the head before he gets knocked out? When Daniels does a jump-spinning-hook-kick to the guy's face in the airport or train station or wherever it was, and the guy gets back up from it--would not happen!!! Two, every cast member in this film sucked! Not a one of them has any acting skill at all--especially Daniels! Don't watch this movie unless you want to see a whole lot of good martial arts techniques applied for show without the slightest bit of realism. If you want to see really good fights or even okay acting, pass this film over.

Not as good as the later Gary Daniels/PM movies, but still decent. The fight scenes are good, though it is obvious that no contact is made a few times. A decent car chase, a cool hero in Gary Daniels, and overall good and plentiful fights make this worth at least a rent. The guy that plays Gary's partner is an impressive fighter.

"Deadly Target" is overall about as bland and generic as its uninspired title. To be fair, there are a few good things in it. The production values are pretty good; the movie looks glossy (thanks in part to photography by PM Entertainment honcho Richard Pepin), nothing looks particularly cheap, and the lighting gives the movie a moody feel. Also, some of the martial arts fights are not bad. Not up to fights in Hong Kong movies, but still fairly exciting. However, the movie's other action sequences (car chases, shootouts) come across as really flat and unexciting. Part of this is due to the really tight feeling of most of the movie, with the camera jammed up close instead of stepping back and letting us see everything. But the real problems come with Daniels' character. His character is kind of a pr*ck in several scenes, making it hard to warm up to him. Also, after the first twenty-five minutes, Daniels' character does next to nothing towards his pursuit of the bad guy for the next fifty minutes! The movie may not be totally free of merit, but it should only be seen during a boring weekend - make that an ESPECIALLY boring weekend.