Kung Fu Jungle (2014)

Memorable, crazy movie

Lack of good storyline.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

"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 added this movie to my list on Netflix and finally managed to watch it. Lately I have been really wanting to watch an Asian movie on martial arts, and Kung Fu Killer hit my eye because of the name and because the plot actually seemed more intriguing than what I was expecting for movies of this type.The plot might have been intriguing, but the way it was carried out was closer to some kind of TV show, especially in the start. It developed into something that no TV show could achieve - at least not in one episode. First the killer is introduced and he's very distanced from the viewer, but the more is revealed about him, the more interesting he becomes. The same goes with the main character Hahou Mo, and pretty much every character, who shows more sides of themselves as the story progresses. While the story is simple, it keeps the viewer interested and entertained, and the main characters are more than a tool for the story.Kung Fu Killer is visually astonishing. It's colourful and every shot looks great. The set is well designed, and many of the locales are so detailed I'd just want to go there to have a look around for the details. The fight scenes are well choreographed. They look amazing and differ from each other - especially how the killer searches for masters in different fields: boxing, kicking, weapons, etcetera. Every fight is different, considering the people taking part in it use different styles. It's also easy to see what the fighters are doing. In short, the fights are extremely enjoyable, even though they are of course violent.From the kung fu films I've seen so far, I really like Kung Fu Killer. Of course there are many ways to improve the plot, but the characters, fight scenes and the visual side of the film all work well. It's worth watching, if you like martial arts themed films of course, otherwise you might feel watching this would be a waste of time.

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!

Old school style narrative for contemporary times.A physically challenged man who could be an inspiration to anyone (if he was not the bad guy) over comes his uneven legs to become a super strong Kung fu master with the goal of killing seven of the greatest masters of their styles.The legendary action movie star, Donne Yen plays a prisoner released from jail to find him and stop his killing spree.The movie is a who's who in Hong Kong action cinema with cameos from some of the biggest and best in the business like Raymond Chow, who was the only one I really recognized by face to go oh wow! (Some of these cameos are from action stars who date back to the 1960s, so they don't look the same)It's a real modern take on a classic style of Kung fu storytelling, with the Kung fu killer going from land to land village to village to find the masters and kill them, but now the village is the urban jungle of china. One of my favorite scenes is when the kung fu killer goes up against the master swords man, who is an action hero faking his blade skills on camera. Possible the best example in the movie of how contemporary the village has become. Everybody's Kung fu fighting, but it's also a cool police drama about hunting one the most interesting serial killers in cinema history. The Don does it again!!