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| Kung Fu Jungle is really good! |
Kung Fu Jungle (also known as Kung Fu Killer) is a Hong Kong action/martial arts movie released in 2014. The movie stars Donnie Yen, Wang Baoqiang, Charlie Yeung, Michelle Bai Bing, Fan Siu-Wong, and Xing Yu. There are also numerous cameos of martial arts movie actors, directors, and writers in this! The movie was directed by Teddy Chan, with Donnie Yen as action director.
In Kung Fu Jungle, Donnie Yen plays Hahou Mo, a master martial artist and police self defense instructor who is in jail for accidentally killing a man in a martial arts duel. A serial killer (played by Wang Baoquiang) is on the loose, targeting retired martial artists. Hahou contacts the police, saying he knows who the next victims will be. The lead inspector, Luk Yuen-Sum (played by the incredible Charlie Yeung), is hesitant to trust Hahou. Things change when one of the people named by Hahou as the possible next victim dies. Inspector Luk says if Hahou is successful in helping the police find the killer and the possible next victims, he will be released early from his prison sentence. From there, the case gets personal as we find out Hahou's significant other is a target! There are a lot of awesome fights and twists and turns that lead to the final showdown!
I've had this movie on Blu-Ray for years, and it's only now that I realize how great it is! I was in college when I first bought it, so when I watched it back then, I was usually doing homework at the same time. I missed a lot of stuff in my previous viewings. The story is a bit simple, but when the action is as great as it is in Kung Fu Jungle, that's not a problem. There is a bit of mystery and intrigue over the motivations of Hahou and the killer. Charlie Yeung as the lead inspector is great as well. She's tough, but fair.
The fight scenes are great in this! All of them are different from each other, so you won't be lacking in options for favorite fight scene! Donnie Yen really has only three fight scenes in this one, and they are all unique. Hahou has a huge fight in prison, and in another scene he disarms the police as he tries to escape. The final fight scene takes place on a highway, with cars and semi-trailer trucks passing by. Hahou and the killer have to avoid each other's attacks and the vehicles in this fight! Yes, some of the vehicles are CGI, but Donnie Yen and Wang Baoqiang go hard in this fight!
The rest of the fight scenes involve Wang Baoqiang as the killer. He is an incredible martial artist, and his skill really shines in Kung Fu Jungle. For spoiler reasons, I can't say why he's so good, but trust me: Wang Baoqiang is a bad a**! The killer shows off his skills against his many opponents, including Xing Yu in a fight in an art studio and Fan Siu-Wong in a fight on a movie set.
This movie is a tribute to Hong Kong's martial arts movies, and the legends who made them, both in front of and behind the scenes. You see a poster of The Big Boss (starring Bruce Lee) in one scene. In another scene, Drunken Master (starring Jackie Chan and Yuen Siu-tien) is playing on a TV! There are so many cameos in Kung Fu Jungle: Xing Yu (Flashpoint, Ip Man, and Wrath Of Vajra), Fan Siu-Wong (Above The Law/Righting Wrongs, Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, Ip Man I and II), David Chiang (Shaw Brothers legend), Kirk Wong (director of Crime Story), Billy Chan (The Big Boss, Fists of Fury, and Prodigal Son), Tony Leung Siu-hung (director of Superfights and Bloodmoon), Mang Hoi (Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain, Yes, Madam! and is a legend for dating Cynthia Rothrock), and Raymond Chow (founder of Goldent Harvest) among many, many others! Raymond Chow is my favorite cameo, by the way!
If you like martial arts movies, especially Hong Kong martial arts movies, then I highly recommend Kung Fu Jungle! It is a modern martial arts movie with great action and a nice bit of nostalgia. It's always fun to see Donnie Yen in action as well! Check it out!
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| The Blu-Ray I watched for the review. |
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| Back of the Blu-Ray case. |
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| The Blu-Ray disc. Cool artwork! |
Reviewed by David Williams
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