The Worst Film Ever
... View MoreGood concept, poorly executed.
... View MoreBlending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
... View MoreIt’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
... View MoreAvenging Fist opens with the premise that the average human can only use 10% of their brain and the "Power Glove" can unlock the other 90% leading to greatly increased combat ability. However there are side-effects and designed for elite police units there is the potential for disaster if they fall into the wrong hands...The futuristic setting is based on CGI, which largely holds up to the challenge, though there are limitations such as some of the fight scenes where the moves appear blurred rather than powerful. Otherwise it is well realised.It had been many years since Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Chin Kar-lok had appeared on screen together and they appear to have aged well though their presence cannot guarantee success here. They and other well-known faces in Hong Kong cinema such as Gigi Leung, Cecillia Yip and Roy Cheung also make their presence known among the newer faces such as the uncharismatic lead Stephen Fung.The acting is surprisingly good in places, especially Roy Cheung as the lead villain and Sammo Hung making the most of his limited screen time and a rare serious role. The main trouble is the plot which is supposed to have been originally based on the Tekken computer games - rarely a good sign as the 'Tomb Raider' and 'Doom' films recently proved. The changes mean that sometimes the story makes little sense and one point seems virtually stolen from 'The Empire Strikes Back' minimising any impact it may have had.Overall, Avenging Fist is a patchy and ambitious effort that fails to reach it expectations despite the best efforts of director Yuen Kwai and his mixed cast. There are some solid performances and the film generally improves during its running time, but fans of Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao may do better looking elsewhere. Avenging Fist is certainly unlikely to bring them many new admirers.
... View MoreThe film is a dreadful bore filled with cheesy special effects and lousy young actors. This is the stupidest movie to come out in years. Please avoid it.I paid a dollar to rent this and I feel ripped off.Power glove may be the most retarded concept in movies I have ever seen.The fighting in this movie sucks.Absolutely dreadful.I can not emphasize enough to how bad this film is andwhy you should avoid it.The only decent thing about the film is the women aren't bad looking.
... View More"The Avenging Fist" is one of the many HK Special Effect movies to come out over the last few years. It stands out on its own points, though - like the fact that it takes place in the future as opposed to the present or past - which means that there's characters jumping around on flying cars and through neon lights.The main focus of the story is that of Nova, an agressive young man who feels the need to fight (don't we all?) and is trying to get his hands on a "Power Glove" - not of the Nintendo variety - which increases the user's fighting ability considerably. Nova also has a father who disappeared during the development of the Power Glove, who left Nova records of a fighting style called, of all things, the "Avenging Fists."After several events, Nova manages to obtain a power glove and proceeds to unleash serious adolescent justice upon faceless baddies. Of course, Nova can't do it all by himself - so a bartender/street fighter by the name of "Iron Surfer" comes into play.Personally, I think the movie should've been about Iron Surfer (Stephen Fung). Not only does he look a lot more cool and intense than Nova, but he also doesn't have all of the family melodrama that's included in Nova's story. Iron Surfer's just a guy who wants to love a cute girl and beat the life out of anyone/thing that gets in his way... even a surprisingly well animated CG monster. Unfortunately, Iron Surfer just gets turned into a crutch for Nova to take on the main villain with.Yuen Biao has a decent sized role in this movie, but I was wanting to see more of him. Perhaps there should be a prequel with him and Ekin Cheng (who has a cameo as a younger Sammo Hung) that better explains the origins of the prevalent power gloves/avenging fists... It's unlikely, though.Regardless, this movie very well accomplishes the SFX action spectacular it set out to be. You could go without seeing it and sleep comfortably at night, but if you're a sucker for these kinds of movies, give it a thorough viewing. "The Avenging Fist" is just fine.
... View MoreTake Demolition Man, Final Fantasy, The Matrix, Star Wars, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and put into a food blender. Mix well for an hour an a half, pour into container, put in the fridge for a little while, serve with icing sugar...In watching this film, you easily can make comparisons with the five films listed above and more, as The Avenging Fist has taken many of the ideas off them and crammed them into this fast-and-furious, high adrenalin, backside-kicking thriller. Oh, and add in 'Tekken' for good measure as well, although the end credits explicitly state that this film was not based on Tekken and not endorsed by Namco.Tekken, sorry, The Avenging Fist tells of Nova, a son of a police officer who was the master of the Avenging Fist, a series of martial arts moves that were highly lethal. Whilst at the police force, Nova's father was brainwashed by Combat 21, who steals the Power Glove that, to cut a long story short, gives him powers literally untapped by anyone else. Twenty years on, Nova learns of his father's fate, and he seeks to prevent Combat 21's world domination plans.Ultimately, a film of this description is always going to be targeted at a younger audience, and inevitably a certain amount of cheesiness and unimaginative fantasy are both always going to appear. But, the film does go beyond that. Computer graphics reminiscent of The Matrix and Final Fantasy and choreographed martial arts of CTHD quality add immensely to the film. Also a little bit of subplot (yes it has some!) does go a long way too in the movie.But one of interesting decisions in the film were the choice of leads, who are a young bunch, and yet were teamed up with veterans of the the martial arts genre. With the success of The Stormriders and the like, you might have expected Ekin Cheng to lead the cast. But all credit to Wang Leehom and Stephen Fung as they did an excellent performance. I would have loved to have seen more of Kristy Yang, though.Ultimately, the young cast do equal the performances of the veterans, and despite all the criticism I seem to have written more about than I probably should have, it is a thoroughly enjoyable film. One for a good-spirited evening.
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