The Avenging Fist (2001)

Tekken this is not... But still fun to watch!

When I heard that "Avenging Fist" was going to be out on DVD, I had this grin on my face because of the "Tekken" hype surrounding the movie.

I finished watching "Avenging Fist" starring Ekin Cheng, Gigi Leung, Lee Hom Wang, Kristy Yeung, Sammo Hung, Stephen Fung and more.

Anyway, this movie has a lot of people you may have seen from many HK movies and a few big names which adds to the allure of the film. Also, the special effects are pretty cool and the futuristic look ala "Blade Runner" was very nice.

This movie is definitely not "Tekken", it's more like "Tekken", "Street Fighter 2" and "Dragon Ball Z" mixed together.

The only thing that "Tekken" has to do with this film is that it's a fighting movie (ala videogame like fighting movie) and the main character (Leehom Wang, the guy who played Aaron Kwok's partner on China Strike Force) has hair like Kazuya which is pretty cool. The only thing that "Street Fighter 2" has to do with it is the fighting characters and Combat-21 (think M. Bison, or if you are in East Asia think Vega). The only thing that "DBZ" has to do with this is the ending segment which is reminiscent of how DBZ ended with Goku's battle with Boo.

Anyway, the plot is humans can only use 10% of their brain. What would happen if humans can tap into the other 90% which is called the "Forbidden Zone". Anyway in the past: Thunder was a guy who perfect the martial art of the "Avenging Fist". As a police officer, he and two others - Dark and Combat 21 were chosen to test the power glove which would allow police officers to tap into the 90% but something goes wrong. Now it's twenty years later and Thunder's twins: Nova (Wang) and Belle (She was the female partner in "For Bad Boys Only") are twins that have special talents. Nova for fighting and learning his dead father's "Avenging Fist" and Belle with her power for producing heat. Nova never knew what happened to his father, his mother is not saying anything. Nova's goal is to have a "Power Glove" for himself, not knowing what it's for...just knowing that police officer's use it to kick butt. The day of his birthday, his mom has a surprise but Nova and Belle are in for a surprise when their father Thunder reappears.

If anything, people who love video games especially fighting video games or anime will love this movie. As for the DVD, it only comes with a trailer. No special features which sucks. But this is the first time I seen a DVD featuring DTS 6.1 and Digital Dolby EX on a HK DVD. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't feature great surround sound like GEN-X Cops but it's ok.

English subs are good but with the typical typos in HK film.

All in all a great film for those who enjoy video game fighting movies and anime. If you don't enjoy these type of movies, then you may want to pass. September 4, 2008

B-movie slick graphics can surprise

First time I watched this was on a bootleg poorly made, and I thought the film was awful. Second time was years later on the regular DVD sold here, and I really enjoyed it this time. The reasons for both reactions were the same: very B-movie with sensless fights with no real martial arts at all-only computer graphics and lots of blue screen scenes. However, if you think about it- not much difference in the non-motive fights same sort of reasons as in the old kung fu movies, and those fights were no more realistic since they were so afraid of hurting each other. Lack of good story-line, same thing. So what to enjoy? The general campiness and weirdness of it all, and the strong element of fun. No single element of this movie is very good, but all combined it is great entertainment and has lots of original ideas-not just repeats of older movies like most do. Sammo Hung has a great minor role in this. So does Yuen Biao, but he is not given any good lines or action, so not too good a role for him. The kids are the main focus, and they do exactly what they are supposed to. Not a bad science fiction theme also. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes good camp and science fiction. January 21, 2008

The one you don't want to miss

If you like Hong Kong movies, if you like cute guys, if you lilke fighting, and if you like feature movies. Then this is one you don't want to miss out. Not too much actions like some others, a little love story, exciting movies. December 16, 2002

could have been so much more

Being a fan of Hong Kong cinema, I must admit I bought this dvd with a certain amount of trepidation. This is because it broke new territory - and I must admit the special effects are really impressive. However, the most serious flaw is that the movie never seemed to combine the special effects with the kung-fu action, which I was screaming for all the way through. What a wasted opportunity! There is too much boy meets girl type nonsense going on for my liking. Maybe if they had a Jet li or a Donnie Yen on board they could have done something with this, but I doubt it. Perhaps in a few years time they might get the combination just about right. Until then its The Story of Ricky for me! December 7, 2002

Utter crap

Ugh. My friend bought this on dvd the other day at a used video store. Why did he buy it? I have no idea. I knew it was gonna be bad news. So anyways, after playing some video games we decided to pop it in and give it a shot. I will regret that moment forever.
This is probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I used to talk about how much crap there is in American cinema, but after watching a few Hong Kong movies, there'e quite a bit of crap there too. This movie was plain AWFUL. Glossed over special effects which were ridiculous and pointless, stupid fight scenes, idiotic camera tricks, and a plot that was made up by a 4-year old. Don't buy this. Don't watch it. Stop reading this review and find something better to do. November 18, 2002

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