Vo Sinh Dai Chien

As I sat down to watch the 2021 Vietnamese movie "Vo Sinh Dai Chien" (aka "Battle of the Fists") the movie was listed as an action comedy, so that was what I was expecting. However, this movie was an action drama, not an action comedy, so it was a rather different movie that what I had expected.

And with that being said, I must also say that "Vo Sinh Dai Chien" actually turned out to be an enjoyable movie, and definitely exceeded my expectations. Aside from a rather corny movie cover that looked like an archetypical 1990s martial arts movie cover, then the movie was actually quite enjoyable.

The storyline, as written by Tran Khanh Hoang, was enjoyable and entertaining. Sure, it was a rather predictable and somewhat generic storyline, even for a martial arts movie such as this. But it proved to be enjoyable, nonetheless. If you enjoyed movies such as "Karate Kid" then you will also find enjoyment in "Vo Sinh Dai Chien".

The acting performances were fairly good, as were the martial arts sequences. Given my limited familiarity with the Vietnamese cinema, then I wasn't familair with the cast ensemble in the movie. But I was entertained by what I saw on the screen.

If you enjoy a good old fashioned martial arts movie, then give "Vo Sinh Dai Chien" a chance, should you have the opportunity to do so.

My rating of director Nguyen Ba Cuong's 2021 action drama "Vo Sinh Dai Chien" lands on a six out of ten stars.

The main actor and actress are very cute but don't let their look fools you, they are all martial artist at their core. The story is a bit choppy but the actions are very smooth with a real life Muay Thai 7 times world champion (Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat) as a coach, no stuntmen are needed in this movies, all the moves are legit be it traditional martial art or modern MMA. The drama is a bit over-exaggerate but that's expected from a Vietnamese movie. The villain is super cool and also a legit fighter, no fancy moves, just straight up violence. I love this movie and have high hope in Vietnamese futures action stars like in this one. The 10 star is to compensate for low rating, this one is a solid 7/10 (8/10 if you like Vietnamese movies)

Battle of the Fists is a decent martial arts movie with a lots of bits of pieces of comedy and drama.

If you happen to watch a lot of 80s and 90s movies that centralizes on the new kid on the block then a lot of the movies themes and tropes are a tad too familiar and somewhat cliched.

What is new though is an introduction to Vietnamese martial arts and an a love interest with some Anya Taylor Joy features.

Overall, the fight scenes were somewhat average for a martial arts film and could have been better. The movie is light fare and entertaining if you don't mind some melodrama bits and a predictable ending.