Fistful of Vengeance
If audience are looking for a playfulness spectacle where attractive citizenry do their good playing cool , badass characters and who handle their fight like intricate dances , thenFistful of Vengeanceis will live up to on that front . WatchingWu Assassinswill greatly improve viewers ' experience as this is a follow - up to the serial , which is handily available on Netflix as well . However , one does n’t need to be a fan ofFistful of Vengeanceso long as viewers have an open thinker and fondness for an sure-enough - school action flick that coalesce modern filmmaking and engineering science to enhance its centre attracter : the scrap . If anyone expects the film will be critically lauded or considered for award , well , you need to mollify those expectations , chop-chop .
The picture open up with Tommy ( Lawrence Kao ) basically recapping the last ofWu Assassins — the series precedes the events of the moving picture — and set up the narration for a new story inFistful of Vengeance . Tommy , Kai ( Iko Uwais ) , Lu Xin ( Lewis Tan ) are in Thailand to seek revenge . They are looking for whoever was creditworthy for the slaying of Tommy ’s sister Jenny . So for the next 90 minutes , the gang is on a high - octane subspecies against the clock as they hunt down her killer , all while being hunt as well .
come to : Wu Assassins Is The Martial Arts Movie Franchise The Raid Could n’t Be
Fistful of Vengeancehas a lot of style and it is brooding of a new degree in the evolution of the traditional Hollywood soldierly art movies . The scrap is well choreographed , with many of the scenes utilise the techniques that make martial arts films so entertaining . However , the movie ’s redaction diminishes the energizing energy of the fights as it leans into more basic Hollywood menu . The camera does n’t throw onto the activity long enough , opting for nimble cuts to by artificial means make a sensory faculty of danger or suspense . The best action sequence get at the end , which bolster the film ’s best purpose of camera movement and cut to highlight the fight choreography .
There is a distinct deviation between how the fights are shoot inFistful of VengeanceandWu Assassins . A quick glance at IMDb confirms this — most of the show ’s behind - the - scenes squad is not heel as having worked on the picture show . Neither is cinematographer John S. Bartley , whose absence is the most notable . For the most part , the people creditworthy for the aspect and feel of the show are n’t present for this motion-picture show , which is odd . fortuitously , Iko Uwais rest logical . He proves once again that Hollywood may have engage the musical genre but not the most of import constituent : an action hotshot . Uwais , follow the track of many corking warriorlike arts wiz and who explode into the pop culture zeitgeist withThe Raid , is splendid and charismatic . His motility are fluid , full of zip , and exact . He makes a deadly art form reckon like graceful dancing . And with very few words actually speak , he has an effective sieve presence when he is not in military action musical mode . His performance , however , is a minute stilted , which can be partially assign to him still grow as an thespian .
The cast does their best , but a lot is mislay with the spring from series to take . Many of the characters have been dwindle away down to just generic action lines . There is no common sense of a relationship between any of the characters and very random love story blossom from out of nowhere . Lawrence Kao is perhaps the best among them , with his character carrying the brunt of the emotional impact of Jenny ’s end . Uwais is given little dialog and is the standard stoic action hero . Lewis Tan is deliver with sorry boy quips and a persistent attitude that give off the sentience he will fight an one-time lady if she looks at him sideways . Tan has undecomposed look and raw athleticism , but performing is not his potent suit of clothes . His character , like most of the repay cast ’s , has been leach of nuances that give the actors something to work with . When they do n’t have ten episodes to decide into and flesh out a narrative , the worker sputter .
Pearl Thusi joins the casting as Zama Zulu and is come off of her excellent , but late cancelled Netflix undercover agent seriesQueen Sono . Zama is an Interpol factor with a romantic past with Lu Xin . However , their romance does n’t pop up and seems to be include just for the rice beer of having Tan and Thusi disrobe ; the deficiency of buildup makes it unnecessary . This coupling is just one example of the flimsy connections between these case . There is a want of spirit inFistful of Vengeancethat make the retaliation story find hollow . The audience might know why they are on their journey , but the movie never slows down long enough to provide real reference moments . In a scene that attempts to engage with the excited core of the moving-picture show in the third human activity , a discomfited Zama outcry at the three men , “ You say you are a kinsfolk . You ’re not represent like a syndicate … ” This is fundamentally the reasonableness why one should watch the show as that screen background cognition helps . Anyone coming into this unused will just witness an action motion picture that has no interesting character and no emotional backbone .
The characters are n’t the only ones who endure from the start to film . Fistful of Vengeancehas aninterestingcolor pallette . Often , films or TV shows that have grapheme go to an Asian or a Middle Eastern and North African country , the scene become saturated with a lily-livered chromaticity . This is a long - hold tradition that many have complained about . It is plainly a coded message , and the yellow filter signals the characters are in a lawless , backward position . The choice to have the lily-livered filter inFistful of Vengeanceis an incredibly foreign selection , especially since the show did n’t have this filter and it ’s jarring . Perhaps Dutch director Roel Reiné , who also attend to as the film ’s cameraman , has an unconscious bias . All told , it is for certain a choice not to hire Asian gift to work on the film behind - the - scenes asWu Assassinsdid .
Fistful of Vengeance , with all its flaws , is still a fun knack . But even with an amusing soundtrack , returning characters , and some exciting activity scene , it plays more like an extended music video than an engrossing film with a narration . At some point , the story gets lost and all there is left are fights and vibes , which is disappointing if one ’s way to this film was through the serial . It may be strange to say , butFistful of Vengeanceis a fun diversion from the show if it were to get a second time of year . It is easy to follow , does n’t ask much of the audience , and does n’t raise any aroused stakes — it ’s just 90 bit of mindless fun .
Lewis Tan, Iko Uwais as Kai, Pearl Thusi, Lawrence Kao in Fistful of Vengeance
NEXT : KIMI Review : Zoë Kravitz Is Excellent In Steven Soderbergh ’s Slick Thriller
Fistful of Vengeanceis available to stream on Netflix as of Thursday , February 17 . It is 90 minutes long and is rated TV - MA for violence , nakedness , and language .
Lewis Tan, Iko Uwais as Kai, Pearl Thusi, Lawrence Kao in Fistful of Vengeance
