Kung Fu Jungle (2014)

Beautiful, moving film.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Just when I thought Kungfu movies could no longer be good, Donnie Yen surprises me again. In Kungfu Jungle, Yen plays a troubled convicted Kungfu master out to stop a crazed Kung fu killer. The story proceeds like a thriller, and the villain played by Wang Baoqiang is convincingly menacing. Teddy Chen portrays the characters as two similar people who chose different paths. The movie slowly unveils more about the antagonist and what drives him. It helps that Wang Baoqiang is able to be truly menacing and prove his immense skill because he has more fight scenes than Yen. In the final showdown between him and Yen, I was not disappointed. Though there were bad CGI and obvious wirefu going on, it helped enhance the fight scene and did not feel odd. Yen is still able to show he can kick serious butt, and uses his trademark lightning fists, and hard punches. Wang Baoqiang also shows that he could go toe to toe with Yen, just like Wu Jing and Sammo Hung in Kill Zone. Louis Fan also has a chance to show his awesome skills this time, unlike in Ip Man, where he only played a comical role. The fighting style in the movie is Kungfu at one of its hardest and most brutal forms. The techniques are less dance-like and lethal, unlike the old Kungfu movies. Even Bourne and Batman would know better not to mess with Yen's character whether it's hand to hand, or weapon to weapon.

"Kung Fu Killer" (aka "Yi ge ren de wu lin") is one of the absolute better Donnie Yen movies in years. I had very little expectations to the movie when I sat to watch it, expecting it to be little more than just another tough-guy-beating-up-all-the-bad-guys movies that Donnie Yen usually tends to make. However, I was more than genuinely and pleasantly surprised at the outcome of "Kung Fu Killer".What makes "Kung Fu Killer" a good movie is a combination of several things, which include the action, the martial arts, the story, the acting, the setting and the atmosphere of the entire movie. I was really enjoying this movie from start to end. As with all Donnie Yen movies, then the martial arts and action sequences are tight, precise and well-choreographed and equally so executed. And I am a sucker for Hong Kong movies, so of course it was a treat to be back on the gritty streets midst worn-down old and sparkly new buildings at the heart of South-East Asia.Donnie Yen does deliver his usual perfect set of fighting and action skills here in this movie, and he is joined alongside by Baoqiang Wang, whom I don't think I have noticed before. But wow, this guy was also quite amazing, and definitely a name to keep an eye on. There was a good feeling of brutality and honest, hard-hitting fighting throughout the entire movie, without excessive use of Wire Fu. Charlie Yeung also did add a good element to the movie with her acting talent.The story is about an imprisoned martial arts instructor whom is given a deal to work with the Hong Kong police in order to find and stop a particularly brutal serial killer who is targeting the best of the best of martial artists.The characters in the movie were a bit square, yes. And by square I mean that they were generic and as you would expect from a movie of this type. Nothing grandiose here or nothing innovative in terms of character building. But that is still alright, because they are enjoyable and well portrayed by the cast hired for the various roles and characters.It should be said that director Teddy Chan does follow a strict how-to-make-an-action-thriller by the book. And that is one of the downsides to the movie, because it does give it a bit too much of a predictability to it.If you enjoy Hong Kong cinema, then "Kung Fu Killer" is a definite must watch movie, especially in the latter years. I was quite surprised with how good the movie was, and am pleased to say that Donnie Yen is definitely back in top form. I am rating "Kung Fu Killer" a solid eight out of ten stars.

I'm always up for a good old Hong Kong martial arts action film, so when I found the Blu-ray for this movie in my library, I snatched it up. But as I said in my summary line, I found the movie somewhat of a letdown. It's not a BAD movie; it does have some genuine merit. The production values are excellent, from the cinematography to the sets. And the fight sequences, particularly the climatic bout, do have some genuine excitement. But all the same, I felt the fights weren't as good as they could have been. They have the unfortunate trademark of many modern day Hong Kong martial arts movies - quick editing and the camera zoomed in really close. The best Hong Kong martial arts movies step back to see the performers in long takes. Another problem was that I didn't think that there were quite enough action sequences - a couple of more would have helped. This may explain why I often thought the plot to be slow moving, as well as lacking urgency. Die hard fans of Hong Kong martial arts movies might get enough out of this (not just with the many cameos of famous Hong Kong movie figures), but I would not recommend the movie to more casual viewers of Hong Kong filmmaking.

Granted, they had me at Donnie Yen, but then they gave me incredible production values, a fairly competent storyline, and met the action/fight-sequence quality of the first two IPman's. This was ranked 6.4 this morning, 6.5 this afternoon, and could be headed higher. It deserves it. It's a freakin' blast!The final fight is as good as the alleyway in Killzone, and a clear lack of the all-too-present drama silliness found in many of these HK action flicks. Some of the serious stuff is handled quite well. Albeit the fight scenes are still gloriously over-the-top(not sure what some were expecting reading some negative reviews - i mean isn't that wHY you rent a kung fu flick? Geesh).The "filler" is solid, decently acted fare that keeps at an even pace and keeps the audiences interested in the fate of its lead characters. If u want realism go rent "the gunman" and be bored to death with a more basic plot, realism, and seasoned actors. It will fry your brain and send u back to the redbox faster than "Get Hard". Or have fun watching a mindless, unrealistic kung fu flick - which flies by like an F-16, and is a 90-minute adrenaline rush. Highly recommend this! 65/100I will be purchasing this. You should know where u stand before u hit play. If u enjoyed "true Legend", the "police stories", "supercop" or SPL:Killzone.. Or any modern kung fu flick.. You will love this!