Corey Yuen directs this martial arts/action outing set amid the architectural splendour of Prague.
If you've seen any Corey Yuen film before then you'll no doubt know exactly what to expect here; lots of close up, quick edit fight scenes and imaginative wire aided stunts.
Interestingly, the quick cut/edit style is a fairly recent cinematic phenomena. The advantages are obvious; Highly complex combinations of moves (which may well be impossible to film in single takes) can be created via fast editing of smaller combinations of moves or sometimes even single moves. Another advantage and one which Hollywood has keenly exploited utilising this style has been that big name stars who are, shall we say politely, not exactly gifted martial artists, can be made to look good via the same (trick) technique.
Why am I talking about all this?
Simple, it's because I really loath the said style!
For me personally, I want to see more naturally fluid fight scenes, unaided by editing trickery! If the actors can't do it for real then don't bother to do it all all!
But enough of my ranting and back to the film in question is it any good? Well, aside from some of the aforementioned fighting scenes, the film is actually fairly entertaining stuff. There's certainly never a shortage of action and there's even a pleasant splattering of gore. It's especially great to see the legendary Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez on screen again although even his moves have suffered the editing treatment (and Benny is one chap who most certainly does NOT need any help in fight sequences!)
Overall, whilst far from essential viewing, there are certainly far worse ways to spend an hour and a half of your time.
If you've seen any Corey Yuen film before then you'll no doubt know exactly what to expect here; lots of close up, quick edit fight scenes and imaginative wire aided stunts.
Interestingly, the quick cut/edit style is a fairly recent cinematic phenomena. The advantages are obvious; Highly complex combinations of moves (which may well be impossible to film in single takes) can be created via fast editing of smaller combinations of moves or sometimes even single moves. Another advantage and one which Hollywood has keenly exploited utilising this style has been that big name stars who are, shall we say politely, not exactly gifted martial artists, can be made to look good via the same (trick) technique.
Why am I talking about all this?
Simple, it's because I really loath the said style!
For me personally, I want to see more naturally fluid fight scenes, unaided by editing trickery! If the actors can't do it for real then don't bother to do it all all!
But enough of my ranting and back to the film in question is it any good? Well, aside from some of the aforementioned fighting scenes, the film is actually fairly entertaining stuff. There's certainly never a shortage of action and there's even a pleasant splattering of gore. It's especially great to see the legendary Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez on screen again although even his moves have suffered the editing treatment (and Benny is one chap who most certainly does NOT need any help in fight sequences!)
Overall, whilst far from essential viewing, there are certainly far worse ways to spend an hour and a half of your time.