No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (1989/1990) - A Review

 

Really underrated martial arts action movie.

No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (also known as No Retreat, No Surrender 3, Kick-Boxer 2, and Karate Tiger 3) is a Hong Kong/American martial arts action movie released in 1990. It stars Loren Avedon, Keith Vitali, Rion Hunter, Luke Askew, Mark Russo, Joseph Campanella, and Wanda Acuna. No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers was directed by Lucas Lo Yuen-Ming, with martial arts choreography by Tony Leung Siu-Hung.

Loren Avedon (left) as Will and Keith Vitali as Casey. These brothers make quite the team.

In No Retreat, No Surrender 3, Loren Avedon plays Will Alexander, a martial arts instructor who has a strained relationship with his brother Casey Alexander (played by Keith Vitali) and father John Alexander (played by Joseph Campanella). Casey is a charismatic CIA agent, and John is retired from the CIA. Will is not cool with his family being in the CIA. Though John is retired, he is still tracking down Franco (played by Rion Hunter), a terrorist he was not able to capture before he retired. Unfortunately, John is killed by Franco at his home, and Will finds his dead body. Casey finds Will crying over their dead father's body, and Will vows to find their father's killer without his help.

Will and Casey then start their search for their father's killer in their own way. Will infiltrates Franco's terrorist group (with the help of his martial artist friends), while Casey uses his CIA colleagues and former lover, Maria (played by Wanda Acuna) to gain intel on where Franco is. Naturally, Will and Casey's paths cross, and they end up having to work together to get out of a huge international incident and to finally get Franco...

Rion Hunter as Franco is a great final boss!

Once again, No Retreat, No Surrender 3 is a stand-alone movie, not connected to the previous No Retreat, No Surrender movies. This time, the movie is about revenge with a bit of political intrigue. Family drama goes on throughout the movie as well. Loren Avedon plays the more conflicted, introspective Will; whereas Keith Vitali plays the charming and charismatic Casey. Both actors play their roles well and are believable as their characters. Loren gets to show off his dramatic acting skills while Keith gets to show off his more suave and comedic side. In fact, Casey is a bit of a James Bond type of character. Rion Hunter as Franco, the main villain, is pretty awesome. That guy is one pompous bad guy! Great performance from him! The plot is interesting enough, and there are some twists and turns in there that you won't expect. The soundtrack is also great, with Richard Yuen giving it that classic 80s/90s Hong Kong sound. [A bit of a warning, homophobic slurs are used in comedic fashion in one scene, which is unfortunate.]

The fight scenes are top tier!

The fight scenes in this movie are so good. Some of the best fight scenes in American movies at that time. Tony Leung Siu-Hung really needs more recognition as a fight choreographer! Loren Avedon kicks major butt in this! Will does a martial arts demonstration with his students where he totally destroys them. Later on, his friends greet him by attacking him at another martial arts school! He and his friends then stage a fight to get the attention of Bruno's secondhand man, and Will just destroys his friends in a bar! It's crazy! His fight against Mark Russo is amazing. They go hard with fast-paced punches and perfectly executed kicks. Keith Vitali has a rather violent fight scene at the beginning of the movie, and later on, a fight in a parking garage. Where Will destroys his opponents physically, Casey actually kills them. Highlights their difference in philosophies. Will and Casey do fight each other, but it is more comedic in nature. The final fight, though... One of the best American fight scenes ever! Rion Hunter as Franco is a monster in this scene. He is fast and powerful! Will and Casey have to pull out all the stops to defeat him... The choreography is superb! I used to watch the final fight so much back in the day. I just couldn't get enough of it!

In conclusion, No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers is an entertaining action movie. I think you should see it, for the final fight alone! The plot may be a bit cliched and the acting not always excellent, but the action is top notch. One of Loren Avedon's and Keith Vitali's best! I am a bit biased, though. Back in the 90s, I recorded this movie off of the American cable TV channel TNT (remember when TNT showed a wide variety of movies, not just the same 8 to 10  movies every month?) and I watched it so much! I studied that final fight scene (along with the mall fight in Police Story) on an almost nightly basis. Watching it again, years later, it still holds up and the fight scenes blew me away again! This movie means a lot to me, and hopefully anyone who reads this review will end up enjoying the movie as much as I do!

Reviewed by David Williams