The Fifth Commandment

Mar 21, 2022

(2008) The Fifth Commandment ACTION

Co-produced and written by Rick Yune who was taken by Max 'Coolbreeze' Templeton (Keith David) in as an orphan after their parents death oblivious by the viewers how with a natural born son, Miles (Bokeem Woodbine) of his own. Both are trained in martial arts but as they both grow older they would go leading separate lives. One works as head of security, while the other goes as a contract killer. Although they become estranged as soon as they became adults, they would eventually collide with one another when the latest hit list is on to a popular singer Angel (Dania Ramirez) Miles was supposed to protect playing in Bangkok.

Title ridiculously translated into Portuguese as "O 5o Comando" (The fifth Command) instead of "O 5o. Mandamento"

The Fifth Commandment (TFC) is the real deal. The action is fierce. The tension is explosive. The camera work is dazzling. This highly stylized exploration of ass whoop reminds us of A Better Tomorrow, one of the earliest John Woo films. That one wasn't perfect either, but it is in that imperfection, in that grit, that the beauty of it lies, and through that movie both John Woo and Chow Yun Fat were recognized internationally. The characters in TFC are hilarious in a comic book sort of way. This slam bam thank you ma'am action smack down is a fitting tribute to the great low budget martial arts films of the seventies and eighties. The litmus test for this movie is: did you enjoy Ong Bak? If you did, this isn't quite as good but you do not want to miss this bad ass whack fest. The Fifth Commandment is not quite The Killer or Hard Boiled, but, come one, what movie is. In its own right, this is a heavy duty no holds barred celebration of violence as a choreographed art form. Of course the plot is thin! It's not supposed to be Scent of A Woman, for crying out loud. An assassin hired to kill a Jennifer Lopez look alike doesn't take the job because it would involve killing his own brother so the people who hired him are now out to get him. Duh. Transporter 3, which has a similar plot, is a joke compared to this one. Kill Bill was only making fun of movies like TFC. Too bad it doesn't have a better ending. The last half hour drags on and ruins the entire experience.

The previews actually made this movie look much better than it actually is. I popped it in one evening expecting something like The Replacement Killers, Kill Zone or Flash Point. Boy was I sorely disappointed. Who do I see about getting the last two hours of my life back? I would have just assumed took a lit match to my 20.00 bill and felt it would've been better spent.

The plot is nothing we haven't seen before. Rogue assassin suddenly gets a conscience, protects the girl, former allies now after him. At least when Ninja Assassin adopted this recycled storyline, they made it interesting.

And is it just me, or did anyone else find the lead actress totally annoying? If I were Rick Yune's character at some point I'd have grown tired of her and been like 'Screw it go out there and get killed.'

After having watched fight scenes in movies like Ong-Bak, Kill Zone, Ip Man, and Rapid Fire, the fights in this movie are a total snooze-fest. It brings nothing new to fight choreography. Even somewhat dull fights you can make look pretty interesting with the right music score and the right camera work. Rick should stick to acting out other people's scripts, not writing his own.

Kristal, the fifth commandment is "Thou shalt not kill" for the overwhelming number of Christians in the world. There are a few protestant sects that split the First Commandment into two and then combine the ninth and tenth into one. For them the Fifth would end up as "Honour you father and mother". However for Catholics, Orthodox, and other historical churches, the Fifth Commandment it the one that prohibits murder.

That said, this is not a great movie but this isn't supposed to be an epic movie that takes itself too seriously. Instead, it is simply an action film worthy of a couple hours distraction.